Present in the Future
by InkNerd
Summary: Twins set out to prove that time travel is not science fiction. What happens when they throw themselves into the future? Laughs, Loves, and Mayhem befalls those aboard the USS Enterprise.
1. Prologue

Computers whirled ceaselessly in the background as two young people poured over calculations and equations. Empty energy drinks and coffee mugs lined the desks and table, along with crumpled pieces of no longer useful sheets of paper. Thus had been the state of the lab for many weeks. Each day brought the two youngsters closer to their goal. Their goal of time travel.

Their professors scoffed them, saying time travel was only the stuff of science fiction. That time wasn't like how it was shown in movies or books where a person could go back and see events that had already happened to himself. Time was just something science could not touch, or so they were told.

Being told that it could not be done was the only motivation needed for these two. Since their birth, the twins had always been doing the things thought to be impossible. Geniuses they were in all aspects, and being told that something was impossible made them both want to prove that it was, indeed, possible.

So for the past months, the twins had locked themselves in their homemade laboratory to work on a time travel formula. If their was one to be found, these two would find it, despite their parents disapproval of them spending so much time on a 'fruitless effort'. Their parents just didn't quite understand their passion for proving others wrong.

"So maybe if we tried this," muttered the girl drawing an arch to and from various parts of the equation the paper in front of her.

"We tried that already, Ry," sighed her brother before he took a sip of his coffee. His sisters snarled and slammed her fist on the table.

"Damnit, Arty...we've been at this for months...why isn't it working?" she exasperatedly asked her brother who was just as pissed that they were not getting anywhere with this. It was like a dog chasing his own tail.

Arty shrugged his shoulders and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You're guess is just as good as mine, dear sister," he said before frowning. "I mean if it were as simple as science fiction put it, there really wouldn't be a challenge for us, ya know?" He looked over at his sister who was mulling over what he said. Finally she sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Right. But what if we tried-" she started but could not finish due to the intrusion in their lab.

"Time for dinner, kids," their mother said with a slightly forced smile. Not to be mistaken, Marie loved her two children dearly and was proud of their academic prowess. She just wished that they would spend more time outside of their lab. Preferably spend that time with her and William, their father.

It depressed Maria that the only way to get her two babies out of their lab was to threaten to stop paying for the electricity that those two consumed like candy. She and William were too reasonable by asking only for meal times to be spent as a family. The twins agreed, because they didn't have the money to be able to support their very expensive hobby.

The twins sighed before setting their pens and pencils down. They wished that they could just eat in their lab, since their train of thought could be lost if they took a break. On some occasions like tonight, they welcomed the break. It was a time to refresh and rest their brains.

The three headed upstairs to the dinning room, where everything was set out already. Their father was sitting at the head of the table. He smiled at the three as they took their respective places at the table. After saying grace, the family began to eat the meal that Marie had prepared so well, chatting about various topics.

A half an hour later, all stomachs were full, and the table was cleared. The twins forced themselves to stay as long as they could. Finally Ry couldn't take it anymore and looked to her father with a pleading expression.

"Please, may we go back down? I just had a thought that might help Arty and I finish the project," she said, giving her best pleading look. She had always been more of a daddy's little girl, but her brother was definitely a momma's boy. That being stated, she was sure that William would say yes. After all, Ry had managed to get him to allow her and Arty to build their laboratory in the unused basement.

William sighed, knowing his weakness for his little girl meant a likely yes from him. He couldn't help it even if he wanted to. She was his little girl, and he didn't want to tell her no. Therefore, he nodded silently despite the glare he was receiving from his wife. The two youngsters were up and in the lab within seconds of the nod.

"William, why did you let them go?" asked Marie with a slight frown. William sighed and rubbed his temples.

"Dear, if we hold them back from their dreams and desires, then they will just come to resent us. I wish that Ry and Arty would spend more time with us, just as you do. But I don't want them to hate us for not allowing them to follow their dreams. After all, we were the ones to tell them to follow their dreams. If we backed out of that now, we'd be liars," Will said with a small smile. "Besides, we followed our dreams. They should be free to follow theirs." He rose from the table, kissed Marie, and headed into the library.

Meanwhile the twins had gone back to work. They were scribbling furiously on paper or typing things into their computers. "If only this were as easy as sticking our ass in a slingshot whipping around the sun***," muttered Ry who got frustrated more than Arty. He was there to help his sister keep a calm and level head.

Arty looked up from his work, furrowing his brow slightly. "Didn't you say you say that you had an idea? Mom sorta interrupted you but I figure now is just as good as any to bounce that idea around. I was having one of my own during supper. So let's hear it," he said with a small smile as Ry's whole face brightened because she finally remembered.

"That's right, now here was what I was thinking," Ry began as she walked over to the white board wall. She then began to proceed telling Arty her idea. He nodded and paid attention like any brother would. After finishing, she capped the marker and looked to him for his opinion.

He stood silently, grabbed a marker, and went to the board. "Almost exactly like mine, except," he stated before using his marker to show the differences in his idea as compared to hers. Ry wrinkled her nose. She hated to admit that her brother was probably right. Though both of them were brilliant, he was just a little more so. Ry blamed it on the fact he was born first. Arty chuckled a little at her reaction. "Let's plug it into the computer and see what happens."

A few minutes later, the twins were both standing in front of the computers, mouths agape. Their formula finally proved to be the most successful one that they had tried. Neither one of them spoke, lest their cheers of triumph somehow effect the results. Finally after ten minutes they let out whoops of joy and triumph.

"It works, Arty!" Ry said excitedly as she danced around, overjoyed that for the first time in almost a year they had a probably success rate of over fifty percent. Hell, this reached an eighty percent success rate. Ry didn't know how she could contain her joy.

Arty on the other hand just stood there smiling like a maniac. Months of work, and it was really that simple. He couldn't believe it. Arty chuckled at Ry's reaction. She was the more physical of the two, which was just fine with him. His face turned pensive after a few moments. "Hey, Ry...when are we gonna build the needed machinery for this?"

Ry immediately stopped dancing and glared at her brother for ruining her happy moment. "Damn it. I suppose we should get started then...make a list of what we need, I'll go get us some more coffee," she said grabbing two mugs before leaving the basement and Arty.

The two worked into the night on the list of materials needed to build the time machine that would hopefully send them into the future. It was a rather long list, but most of the parts were small and intricate. Ry would have a blast putting the pieces together. As for Arty he mused over the machine plans like a child at the candy store.

The next few months were spent planning and revising the time machine plans. Ry was the eternal grease monkey during those months, offering advice to Arty on how it might work better if pieces were switched. She kept her grimy hands away from the plans while Arty's hand kept off what they both thought was the best configuration of the time machine.

One night a year and six months later, Ry and Arty were in the laboratory working on the almost completed time machine. A few parts here and there were still needing to be placed. Over all the twins were satisfied with the results so far.

"Okay, Arty so this should be the final configuration of the time machine, right?" asked Ry who was busy looking once again at the plans. If something went wrong in the travel, she would be the one to blame for not setting it up right. If anything should go wrong, Ry would rather her slightly smarter older brother to be at fault. Proof that he wasn't perfect and all.

Arty looked up from his computer and almost laughed at his sister. Her short hair was ruffled though hard to tell with the goggles on top of her head but also greasy like the rest of her appearance. Really, he often wondered if their personalities were switched at birth as he tended to be more on the feminine side, while Ry was more manly. "Yes, those are what we agreed on last night," he murmured before taking a sip of his cold coffee.

Ry grinned cheekily before pulled the goggles over her eyes. "'Kay, Arty. After I place these four pieces in, it should be good to go!" she said before going dead silent. It was a brief meditation which would calm her nerves and shaking hands. One mishap and poof! She and Arty would be history.

Within moments Ry knelt in front of the impressive machine with the parts right next to her. In a way it reminded her of when she used watched her father preform brain surgery. Arty watched silently, thinking that one day Ry would be an excellent surgeon should she choose to go down that path. Ry bit her lip in concentration as her slender fingers deftly put the parts carefully in their proper places.

A few painstakingly long minutes later. Ry sat still again, afraid to the sudden movement would throw something out of whack thus rendering the machine useless along with all the time and energy she and Arty put into this would be for nothing. "It's done," she whispered softly, even fearing that the vibrations from her voice could do something to mess it up.

Arty nodded slowly as a smile formed on his lips at almost the same time as one formed on Ry. Finally, after a year and a half, the twins had finished their time machine. The only thing left for them to do was to actually test it. Both looked at each other with a bit of fear and excitement. After all, they could end up disemboweled on the other side of the warp, or in the past which was not where they intended to go.

"So when are we gonna test this thing out?" Arty asked when Ry had extricated herself from the floor. She pushed the goggles on top of her head and rubbed her forehead, leaving a slight smudge. Shrugging she walked to the tables for some water.

"I'd say as soon as we can gather some knapsacks with some essentials," she said evenly despite how jittery and excited she felt. After taking a swig of water she smirked at Arty. "No time like the present, right?" Arty grinned in agreement.

The two wasted no time in running up into their seldom used rooms to grab clothes, notebooks, and a few other things that they could possible miss when they took their giant leap, or small hop into the future. By this time, both their parents had been asleep for sometime, so neither Ry nor Arty had to worry about trying to explain to them that the time machine was ready to be tested. However, with slight frowns, Ry and Arty watched silently from their parents door as Marie and William slept peacefully.

"I dunno Arty. It just feels wrong to leave with out any kind of explanation," Ry whispered lest she wake her parents. "I mean how would you feel if you went to bed one night knowing your children were at least safe, but then to find them gone with out any sort of explanation? That's just cruel." Ry could see the cogs whirling in Arty's head as he processed the information.

"I agree. Let's write a quick note. That way they at least know something," Arty said softly before heading back to the main level.

Ry stayed behind and smiled softly at her parents. "Bye mom and dad! We will miss you greatly, but we will always love you," she said to the sleeping forms before shutting the door and not noticing the silent tears that fell from Marie's and even William's eyes.

Silently, Ry joined Arty in the dining room where he was diligently working on a goodbye note that also gave some rather selfish on their part requests. Looking over his shoulder to read what he was writing, she nodded. He was expressing both of their hearts rather well. With a flourish they both signed their names at the bottom before taking one last look around their home.

"Good memories, right, Ry?" asked Arty as he started toward the basement. She nodded silently and wiped away the infuriating tears that were starting to fall. "It's okay. Maybe once we get to the future, they will know how to send people back in time," he said, trying to cheer up his sister, though he knew she was still happy and excited to go.

Ry gave him a small smile. "I know. Let's go." He nodded before the two descend into their laboratory to take the ride of their lives and hopefully end up on the other side in one complete piece. Mere minutes later, the two stood next to the machine, holding hands like they had in their elementary years to keep from losing the other.

"Ready?" Ry asked Arty who had donned his own pair of goggles as he didn't want to ruin his eyes if there should be something in wherever they were going. He looked over at Ry and nodded with a grin.

"Ready!" he said as Ry grinned and pressed the rather simple on switch. Their grip tightened as the machine revved to life. Ry gave a little squeak of excitement as she looked at Arty who was grinning like crazy. It was working.

Soon enough, the machine had warmed up and started to emit excruciatingly bright light throughout the laboratory. Before either Ry or Arty knew what was happening, they felt themselves being swallowed by the light. But just as quickly as the light surrounded them, the twins felt like they were falling before being plunged into an unknown darkness.

-----------------------------xxx-----------------------

_**Author's Note: Alright! I figured I'd put this at the bottom... **_

_**First, I want to thank you all for reading! This is my first attempt at any sort of Star Trek fan fiction, so I hope you all will be patient with me. **_

_**Second, I own nothing except the twins, and the plot though no one from the movie was introduced, but that is why it's a prologue. Also, there is no beta at this point for the story, so comments based on grammar flaws might be appreciated (I say might because some people lack the tact to criticize without being an ass about it)  
**_

_**Third, I did not disclose the twins full first name nor their last name because I just wanted to see how people would respond to this story before I took it any further. Another thing, the title is a little...blah..but that was because I had originally thought to entitle this fan fiction as 'Kobayashi Maru' which undoubtedly would get people thinking this was a Kirk/Spock or some sort or Spock fiction which it most certainly will not be. However, because of how this prologue turned out, that name doesn't really fit.  
**_

_**Fourth, with what was said in numero tres, comments are wanted and loved. I really would like to know how people like this or think something could be changed. I want this fic to survive, but it might not for a number of reasons. **_

_**With all that said and done, thank you again for taking time to read this chapter!  
**_


	2. Parents

Marie woke with a start. Something just didn't feel right. Like things were all where they were suppose to be. Carefully she slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake Will from his deep slumber for no reason. He had a rather important surgery going on later that day and he needed all the rest he could get since the surgery was bound to take more than eight hours.

After pulling on a silk dressing room and slipping into her slippers, Marie padded softly out of the bedroom. Both the twins doors were open, which didn't surprise this mother in the least since they tended to go to bed late and rise with the sun just to get back to whatever they were working on in their lab. Sometimes, Marie couldn't understand how she managed to have two brilliant children and remain modestly sane.

She breezed past the living room and dining room. Entering the kitchen, Marie went straight to the metal door that stood out like a sore thumb in the mostly wooden area. If they were not in their rooms, the lab was the next likely place. They spent more time there than any other place. Perhaps the library a close second.

Upon opening the rather cumbersome door with a smile smile and shake of her head, Marie was soon frowning slightly. No lights were on in the basement laboratory. Worry started to gnaw in the pit of her stomach. It was much too early for them to be at the library. Maybe they went shopping for supplies? After all, Marie and William agreed to pay for the power, but all the equipment and materials was provided by the twins themselves. In Marie and William's opinion, it was a fair trade off. The twins would never be able to pay for the kind of power that they used in a day, let alone a year.

They were just lucky to have parents with high income jobs. Other wise their hobby would be severely limited. William and Marie had hoped when the twins first asked them for a laboratory that this odd hobby of proving people wrong would eventually die way. For that reason alone they indulged the twins. If only they knew that it would only feed their hobby and turn it into an obsession on top of a passion and desire.

Marie quickly and silently made her way back up into her bedroom for her cell phone. After rummaging through her purse for a few minutes (she had one of those large 'put your life in a purse' kind of purse), Marie finally found her cellphone. She stole a glance at William to make sure he was still asleep despite how loud she was being. With a slight smile at the fact Will was still out like the dead, the twin's mother tiptoed out of the room and back down into the dining room to call her children.

Once sitting at the table, Marie dialed Ry's number first since the girl always had her phone on. Worry and panic set in when she heard the ring tone floating down the stairs to the dining room. As fast as she could, Marie was dialing Arty.

Mid-dial, her dark eyes fell on that omnious sheet of paper. Eyes widened and a cell phone fell to the floor. "Will!" shrieked Marie, tears forming her eyes as she held up the paper. "William!" she shouted again, not caring anymore about the surgery that was to take place that day. The frantic woman grabbed the paper and stormed up to the master bedroom where on groggy husband was sitting up in bed.

"William, they are gone!" she said in a panicked whisper.

The doctor's brows furrowed. "Marie, what on earth are you talking about? What's all the commotion so early?" he said in a half awake state. Will rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses to better see his wife who was crying.

"The twins! They left! They are gone, William! GONE!" she shouted just as her legs gave out. Will's eyes widened as he leaped off the bed to see if his wife was correct in her rantings. He came back looking horror-stricken.

"Marie," he said softly, pulling his wife up off the floor and over to the bed. Tears were streaming down his face too. "What happened," he asked, trying to calm Marie down a bit from her racking sobs.

"I-I-I woke up and went to check on the twins...only to find they weren't here!!" she said in one big breath before sobbing again. Her eyes were getting puffy and red already. Will sighed lightly and held his wife close as silent tears streamed down his sun-toughed face.

"But, I did find this." A shaky hand held up a single sheet of printing paper. It was just like the twins to use printing paper of all kinds of paper. It wasn't elegant or fancy, just as they were. Marie couldn't help but inwardly smile at that fact.

After Marie placed the letter on the bed, the two poured over it like one would a treasure map, trying to soak in all the words and meanings they could. When they finished reading the letter, Marie and William just looked at each other with red-eyed puffy faced smiles of pride. They had lost their children in a flash, which they would still be sad for in years to come, but pride in that the twins were able to do what was impossible was ever evident on the faces of Marie and William Montgomery until their deaths.

_Dear Mom and Dad,_

_Bet you are wondering where the hell we are. Well, we don't frankly know either as this morning we tried the time machine, the project we had been working on for the past year and a half or so, for the first time since we finally finished it last night. A bit hasty but we were anxious to see what the future held. _

_First of all, now that you know sort of where we are, we want to say how much we love and cherish everything you've ever done for us. The laboratory especially. But not just that. Thanks for letting us follow our dreams, chase after our ambitions, pursue knowledge as we desired. Nothing we could ever do would be able to pay back how much you have helped mold us into the youngsters we are now. _

_I know it's hard for you guys to read this, knowing that we are gone and you have no idea when or where we are. Heck, neither do we. But hopefully all goes well. The lessons you have taught us will be our constant friend when we may feel lonely. Remember the good times we shared as a family, few as those may be. _

_It seems like we have died, and in seven years we will be legally dead. Who knows if we will be able to come back, though I doubt that Ry will want to. If it gets to be too unbearable, we may just reverse the formula and be back. Though time is a tricky thing as you both are aware of. _

_There is only one thing we ask of you. This is all. We ask that you publish our findings. All our journals save for one which we have with us. Sell our lab and equipment and retire early. We wish for you to at least have that one gift. _

_There is so much we wish to say and do, but we might change our minds if we stayed much longer than this morning. We had always dreamed of a grand adventure...and guess what? We are about to start it. _

_And we could never have done without your love and support through the years. It never would have been dreamed about if you two did not encourage us Do not blame yourselves, we are not running away or abandoning you. You both encouraged us to follow our dreams, and this just happens to be where ours is leading us. Consider it as we are finally moving out and being on our own. _

_But I digress. Time is of the essence. We love you both and will miss you as much if not more than you will miss us. _

_HUGS AND KISSES!_

_Love from your son and daughter,_

_Artemis and Orion Montgomery. _

_PS- Don't forget to feed the fish********! =)_

-----------------------------xxx-----------------------

**Author's Note:**********family joke that may or may not be further discussed in the following chapters.  
**

**w00t~ For another chapter completed! Though technically this could be considered part two of the prologue, I figured I'd split it up. Focus on the twins in on chapter then the parents in the second one before getting too far into this monstrosity.**

**The letter was hastily put together, I may or may not come back through at some point and re-write it...**

**DO NOT WORRY! Next chapter will be the one to introduce our lovely USS Enterprise crew **

**AND HUZZAH! You now know the twins names. More on their names in the next couple chapters. **

**Thanks for reading! Be a dear and review too! Thanks again!  
**


	3. A Predicament Arises

The first thing that Ry was aware of was a blaring white light assaulting her surprisingly weary eyes. Though it wasn't surprising given they were in darkness for who knew how long. The second thing she was aware of was surprisingly not the bed she was on but the commotion going on around her, wherever that may have been.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!?" shouted a gruff voice. Ry winced a little. The shout was a little loud for her ears. Again, they seemed to have been used to silence for while. It was a really baffling thing for the young woman.

"Trying to get to my sister you damn fool," came the reply of a very agitated Arty. Ry smiled a weak, but wry smile. All hell broke loose when Arty got mad or agitated. He was naturally a calm, easy-going guy who rarely became vocal or violent in a time of distress. However, once Arty snapped, it was hard to get him sedate again.

"Too bad, you gotta stay put," came the gruff voice again, irritated as well. Who ever it was needed to realize that Arty could be dangerous if provoked long enough. Then again this curmudgeon didn't seem to handle people well. Or Ry's brain was just overloading with all that was going on. She was far from home, and still far from the one person who understood her better than even herself at times. Giving a weak moan of protest as her body ached, Ry attempted to shift position to let Arty know she was awake.

His reaction was instant. Gone was his anger, and instead excitement and joy filled his face before he rushed to his sister's side, taking her hand in his. "Ry? Ry! Can you hear me? Are you okay? What hurts? When were you born? What are our parents names? Tell me the theorem we worked on didn't boggle your cognitive abilities at all. RY!" a frantic Arty said, speaking.

Ry chuckled slightly. Over reaction was a strong suit of his. Since her eyes seemed to have adjusted fairly well, Ry attempted to open them, looking over at Arty. He looked like when he first got the lab. A kid who just woke up on Christmas, ready to open presents. Though both of their eyes were sparkling like that.

"Damn it, Arty!" she said weakly, rasping slightly along the way. Her throat was surprisingly hoarse. It was as if she had just finished shouting for an entire day. "Shut up! All of China and Japan could have heard ya!" she chuckled exasperatedly, coughing as the laughs worked her lungs up. Arty gave her a worried look, which she quickly returned to prove she was alright.

"I'm fine, Arty. My birthday is the same as yours and other than feeling like I was hit by a bus, nothing seems to be permanently damaged," she explained, placating the man. Arty just smiled and sighed in relief. It had really thrown him for a loop when he woke up not knowing where he was or where Ry was. He was eternally grateful that she was there with him and was just as fine as he.

He took her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze which was returned. Their eyes danced in merriment when they realized they were the first time travelers...EVER. The fact they proved those damn professors and scientists wrong made them giddy with delight. Both were safe, and by the looks of the fancy place which seemed to be a hospital or clinic of sorts, they both made it to the future.

"I hate breaking up this heart-warming scene, but I have to continue making sure you two aren't contagious or have any malformations that would endanger people aboard this vessel,"came the voice of that gruff man. Both twins looked over at him with curious gazes.

It didn't really phase the two of his appearance per se. He was average height, though a little shorter than Arty; his eyes were a nice hazel that reminded Ry of her childhood crush; his overall appearance was that of a man who worked hard and had a rough life as evidenced by the frown lines and scowl the man seemed to always wear. Ry felt her heart go out to the man. He seemed almost like her father who seemed always tired and run down despite his protests he was just fine.

Ry felt her eyes sting a little at the thought of her dad, but after blinking hard, the tears were gone. She wasn't one for tears. Not that she never cried, but Ry would rather die than be seen crying by anyone other than Arty.

Crying was embarrassing to Ry. The young woman thought herself to be above such things. However, Arty would be the first to say that Ry was anything but a cold-hearted woman. In fact, he knew she was the most kind and caring person he knew, despite her rather male like presence.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at the two who were looking more and more like mad scientists. "I don't know what you two are grinning manically about, but cut it out," he said approaching the two and pulling out a hypo-spray.

Ry flinched slightly at the sight of the needle protruding from the metallic object. For being a strong girl, she had some pathetic fears. Needles happened to be one of them. She relaxed a little when Arty squeezed her hand. He had a way of calming her peculiar fears. Some claimed that the two were yin and yang personified, but they never gave much time for religion.

"Sir, I really must protest to any further tests," Arty said, trying to persuade the doctor to not jab at his sister. "We are in prefect health and are in no-' before he could get any further with his sentence, the young lad was surrounded by a bright light that made both the doctor and Ry close their eyes lest they be blinded.

When the light dimmed and Ry and the doctor were able to open their eye again, Ry's eyes widened and she shrieked loudly before passing out with the revelation that she was alone in a strange time with strange people.

"Holy shit," the wide eyed scowling doctor said to the empty space before him.

Artemis Montgomery was no longer in the future.

* * *

_**Author's note- 'ello my freaky darlings...okay totally wrong movie...but thanks for reading! **_

_**I hope you enjoyed it! **_

_**Please review! ^-^**_

_**PS! I want to know whom you think the leading lady should be paired with.  
**_


	4. Pertaining to New Life in Space

When Orion came to again, she was calm for about a nanosecond before she realized Artemis was no longer with her. She sat bolt straight with her eyes wide and a horrified look on her face. The young woman stood and looked around. "Where the hell is Artemis?!" she demanded of the few in the room. "Where is he!?" Orion shouted again when she got no response the first time.

"Miss, I don't know," said the doctor as calmly as he could, worrying over the fragile state of the young woman's mind and emotions. Apparently she and her brother were uber close. But that didn't excuse her screaming and shouting which would not get her anywhere.

"What? You don't know?!" she asked, unbelieving that the phenomenon was just as new to the doctor as it was to her.

"It's just as Bones said. We don't know anymore than you do," said a male voice. Orion raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. He was tall, had blond hair and dazzling blue eyes. He also walked with a swagger that Orion knew too well as the 'I'm God's gift to womankind' swagger. But at the moment it was more of an authoritative stride.

He smirked roguishly when he noticed Orion looking at him. Orion scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "And you are?" she asked snottily. The man just laughed, making Orion scowl a little more.

"Careful, your face may freeze that way," he said teasingly. "But as for my name, I'm Captain James T. Kirk, and you are on my ship, the USS Enterprise...oh and you can call me Jim," he said, starting out serious but soon turned flirtatious and winked.

"Yeah, cause I would totally give you that satisfaction," Orion bit back, making Bones chuckle.

"Oh my gosh! He laughs!" she said wide eyed, staring at the doctor who immediately reverted back to the usual frown-like scowl. Jim on the other hand was laughing his ass off. No one ever reacted like that to Bones. It was rather refreshing.

"It ain't that funny, Jim," muttered Bones as he walked away to do more beneficial work. He figured that Jim could interrogate and inform the young woman better than he could. Bones wasn't ignorant of his lack of bedside manner, but it just took too much effort to be always sunshine and daisies with patients.

"I know...I know," panted the captain who had a killer smile in Orion's opinion. Not that she would ever admit that aloud. With a smile like that, she could see how the captain could be a flirtatious womanizer.

Orion gave him an unimpressed look as he finished his laughing fit and got serious once again. "In all seriousness, I need you to stay here until Bones finishes the tests, and then I need to, according to the boring Starfleet regulations, interrogate you lest you be some suspicious alien life form...and a whole bunch of other rather boring things," he said.

"So you mean I'm stuck here for awhile?" she asked, almost afraid of his answer.

Jim looked at Orion with a sorta sad smile. He understood being in places one would rather not be in, wanting nothing more to be home and with familiar faces. What made it worse for Orion was she at least had a familiar face for a few minutes before he just disappeared.

"For the time being, yes," he said in a tone he didn't use often. The young captain nodded then turned to leave. He had some things to look into before he questioned this peculiar, but beautiful woman.

"Damnit!" Orion muttered before pacing. She had energy just wanting to get out, and there was nothing to tinker with. At least nothing she thought would be good to tinker with. Everything was foreign and Orion didn't want to permanently damage the mighty fine ship (despite the fact she had only seen the medical bay).

"I already know that if I were to ask if you were alright, I'd get a sarcastic, smarmy reply, so I'll just say, life isn't so bad on the Enterprie, and I'm sure there is some place that you could fit in just fine," said Bones as he walked back out into the main room.

Orion jumped a little. "My word, don't startle me like that...." She frowned slightly. "I'm only really good at mechanics and engineering...Artemis was more of the real scientist," she said sadly.

Bones nodded slightly as he was unsure what to say. Small talk with patients was another thing he lacked much experience since most patients were in and out of his medical bay within a few hours.

Orion gave the doctor a small smile. "So you need to finish doing some tests with me?" Bones nodded mutely and grabbed a hypospray. Orion wrinkled her pert little nose at the thing. "If I am correct in assuming that this is indeed the future, at least according to my frame of reference, I would have thought shots and the like would have been long gone," she said.

"Yeah, well unfortunately people still get sick and need medicine here in the 'future'. So just stay calm, and try not to be as infantile as Jim," Bone quipped with a very faint smile. "Also, try not to sound so scientific. You may just be proof of the oldest Vulcan."

Orion looked puzzled. A Vulcan? What on earth, or space (as Orion assumed they were in space) was a Vulcan? The doctor seemed to pick up on her confusion and shrugged but figured this might serve as a decent distraction. "Much has apparently changed, but a Vulcan is in all intents and purposes an alien." While he was talking, Bones had carefully and silently injected what he needed to into Orion.

"Aliens? They really do exist?" she asked, eyes going wide like a kid who just walked into Wonka's Chocolate Factory. She just knew that there had to be extraterrestrials. The universe was enormous, and Orion refused to believe that humans on planet Earth were the only ones inhabiting the universe.

Bones raised an eyebrow before rolling his eyes and muttered an "Unbelievable" as he strolled back into his office for something. Orion just shrugged and looked around the Medical bay. Everything was shiny and pristine.

'Just as a medical place ought to be,' she thought, thinking back to the times she had asked her father why he had to be so clean all the time. Orion felt a small pang in her heart when she thought of her father. What had happened to him, she wondered and her silvery eyes scanned the room.

There was the swishing sound, which Orion could only assume meant that someone had entered the medical bay. She just about had a heart attack when she saw him. Orion did how ever go wide eye and screamed, causing Bones to rush out, wondering what happened. He sighed in annoyance. "Damn hobgoblin," he muttered before wandering away to check on another patient.

Raising an eyebrow, the first officer looked at the young woman and then at the doctor before bringing his attention back to the woman. He wondered what had caused her to scream and look...horrified at his appearance.

"You're one of them, right?" Orion asked rather quietly like a child might do when asking a celebrity for his autograph. She stared at him and was rather amazed that for this alien, he seemed human, apart from the ears that reminded Orion of elf ears. She doubted the man would appreciate that, as it could be offensive to him and his culture.

"If I am correct in the assumption you meant to ask if I was an alien life form, then in answer to the query, yes. I am not of the planet Earth," said the Vulcan.

Comprehension dawned in Orion's eyes. "Are you a Vulcan by any chance?" she asked curiously tilting her head to the side. She seriously wondered if he was part of the species that the doctor had mentioned earlier.

The man with the pointy ears sounded very rigid and scientific, just as she sorta had earlier when the doctor....Bones, as he was called by the captain, made the comment. If this alien was indeed scientific, Orion couldn't wait to have bouts of scientific debates. That was the other area Orion excelled at. She could argue scientifically like no other...at least in her time.

The Vulcan raised an eye brow. "Fascinating," he mused softly to himself before tilting his head slightly and inspecting Orion more critically. "How did you know? I assume that you have had no prior exposure to alien life, I am slightly confounded as to how you knew what I was."

Orion smirked. She had a feeling this guy was rarely, if ever wrong. That was something that she would never understand. She had her share of mistakes, but that was part of the fun, learning and growing and doing better because she happened to be wrong. Orion wanted to make him wrong more than once, but until she gained more knowledge about this time, she'd have to save it for later.

"The good doctor here," she gestured toward Bones. "Mentioned something along the lines of me sounding kinda like a Vulcan he knew which I could only imagine is you since you have a very scientific vocabulary," she explained adding a few sarcastic points in the mix. To say the Vulcan was amused at her antics would not be quite accurate. If anything, the art of sarcasm was about as lost to Spock as the emotions behind the use of such a device.

Spock nodded curtly. Everyone on the ship, excluding Orion, knew that he and McCoy were not on the friendliest of terms. Spock thought the doctor was too emotional and irrational. McCoy on the other hand thought that Spock was a little too cold blooded and scientific. The doctor wondered what Uhura saw in the half-man. Maybe it was just the ears that did it.

"Did you come by for a checkup, Spock, or did you have other important matters to attend to here in my medical bay?" snapped Bones as he sauntered through, checking on things here and there. Keeping things up to snuff as it were.

Spock narrowed his eyes slightly at the doctor. Why the captain put up with such a man was incomprehensible to the half-Vulcan. Shaking his head slightly, Spock looked at Orion. "The captain asked me to show you to the confrence room, and he also wished that you, Doctor McCoy, were present as well." Orion nodded and stood to follow the tall Vulcan who just let the medical bay.

"Great. 'Cause I really wanted to spend an hour or so with Jim, the point eared bastard and the kid, when I could be doing some real work," Bones muttered with a scowl, following the two out the door and down the hall toward the conference room.

* * *

**_Author's Note: WHOOOO!Two chapters in a week! Wow...actually it's cause Im highly motivated and highly inspired....either that or I'm writing pure shit._**

**_Anyway, I want to thank you for reading...and reviewing if you do. _**

**_PLEASE! I need your help...I need to know whom I should pair Orion with. It's not that to cast a vote as it were..._**

**_And at least I will not to a run-off vote..._**

**_Thanks again for reading and reviewing! Byes!  
_**


	5. Proclaimation of Persons

_**Author's note: **_

_**Since I have no idea if people are actually reading this at the bottom, I'm moving this to the top with a reminder at the bottom....**_

_**Please people, I love that you're adding my story to your favorite story lists, but I need some input on who you'd like to see Orion with. It takes all but 30 seconds to click a button and just type a name.**_

_**But with out further ado or admonishment....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

In a matter of minutes, Orion was in an elevator of sorts with the two men. She felt awkward standing there between them. It seemed to her that she was the buffer for two opposing forces. Very awkward indeed.

Just when Orion thought the trip would never end (she had begun to wonder just how large the ship was), the doors swished open and out went Spock and Bones. The young woman just followed behind and took in the sights and sounds.

The ship was incredible, though Orion knew she hadn't even seen half of it. Everything was bright and shiny, giving her a definite futuristic feel. People where bustling around in all sorts of different uniforms of red, yellow and blue. She wondered if there was a significance to that, but didn't have much time to ponder as Spock and Bones were almost out o her peripheral vision.

Orion hurried and caught up, but bumped into Bones when he stopped abruptly. "Ow," she muttered to herself, rubbing her nose. She tilted her head, crossed her arms over her chest and looked affronted, but Bones was not paying her any mind, but that was because he was about to pass through the doors that lead to the room.

Upon entering the strange room, Orion was greeted with a plethora of faces. They ranges from the young, a cheerful looking lad with a mop o curly hair, to an elderly Vulcan who had an uncanny resemblance to Spock. Orion shook her head and pushed it to the side of her mind.

Orion scanned the room again and found that everyone had taken a seat. Her chair was at the end closest to the door. The chair to which everyone in the room had a good view of. Interrogation indeed. Orion was already wringing her hands.

She smiled weakly and took her seat that was unfortunately opposite of the captain who had an air of authority on him. He sat at the head of the table like the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. It made Orion feel as if she were being interviewed or about to get fired. Just when the young woman thought the tension and her heart rate get any higher, Jim smiled and cleared his throat, which made the general buzz cease.

"Well, according to a bunch of boring Starfleet regulation, I first have to welcome you aboard the USS Enterprise, which I sort of already did, but this will make the admirals and a couple Vulcans who shall remain nameless happy to do this in a formal setting,' began Kirk with a slight wrinkle of his nose. Apparently he didn't care much for regulation. Orion raised an eyebrow. She had no idea what 'Starfleet' was, but she had a feeling the Vulcans were present in the room.

"But first...introductions. As you know I am the Captain of this here ship," Kirk said once again but with a smirk that proved he loved the position of captain. Orion had no doubt that he used it to help him win the ladies...for the night at least. 'A woman in every port, I'd wager,' Orion thought as she nodded in acknowledgment of Kirk's introduction.

"You've also met my first officer, Spock,' jim continued and looked hesitantly at the older Vulcan who just shook his head. The young woman nodded to Jim and Spock, but had a feeling they were keeping something from her.

"I need no intro, jim. Miss, just call me Bones,' said the doctor.

Orion smiled, as she was already taking a liking to the man. "Will do," she said in a quiet voice. Everything was still new and the faces just peering at her like some zoo exhibit or something.

"But Leonard McCoy is our Chief Medical Officer, so see him if you are not feeling well," added Jim with a satisfied grin on his face while Bones just scowled. Orion giggled softly. She could see why the doctor would rather be called Bones. Not that Leonard was a bad name, just he seemed much more a Bones than anything else.

"This fine lady, Nyota Uhura, is our communications officer,' Jim said, gesturing toward a beautiful woman with chocolate colored skin. She seemed elegant, poised, feminine, mostly everything Orion wasn't nor ever wanted to be.

Nyota raised an elegant brow. "I'm surprised you didn't make a smart ass comment, _Captain,"_ she said with some sarcastic and bit. Orion assumed from what the woman said, Jim had tried to 'woo' her with his 'charm'. Kirk just grinned cheekily, like he knew he could have but wanted to maybe impress her by withholding. Uhura just rolled her eyes and looked down at her computer like thing.

"Oh! Oh! Keptin! Me next!" chirped the young lad with the mop of red curls, who was grinning and just too excited to be introduced, at least in Orion's opinion. James chuckled and nodded. "Alright, alright, keep your shirt on, Chekov,' he muttered.

"The kid is Pavel Chekov, the youngest person to ever become an ensign for a flagship," Jim said with pride. "He deals with our navigation and other areas where his genius brain can work," he said, causing the lad to redden at the ears.

"Keptin...." Chekov said embarrassed, but grinning sheepishly as a kid who got caught in a bad act. Orion grinned back, knowing exactly how he must have felt. After all she was a genius of sorts. But Chekov seemed to be a bit younger than she was. Which made him brilliant and Orion only smart.

Next Kirk introduced an Asian man by the named of Hikaru Sulu who was in charge of piloting the ship. Orion never had an interest in aviation, so she merely nodded and smiled like she had with the rest of the group. She knew it wasn't her time to speak.

"Our Chief Engineer, Montgomery Scott, who completes the main core of the crew," Kirk said, but Orion's eyes shot open and whipped to look at this person. Scott? She peered closer at the man before gasping. Everyone looked at her strangely. Her heart and mind raced. There was no way that Orion thought it could happen, but she knew it was possible depending upon how far into the future she had gone and what happened in the years past.

"What is troubling you, young one?" asked the elderly Vulcan, who seemed to be observing my reactions.

Orion shook her had and took a deep breath before simply stating, "My name is Orion Montgomery, and he," she looked at Montgomery, "looks very faintly like my mother."

* * *

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this installment. And I also must apologize for the snappiness of the first AN but I've only had one person get back to me. **_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	6. Propsitions

_**Author's note: **_

_**I need some input on who you'd like to see Orion with.  
**_

_**But with out further ado....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

"What!?!?!?!" came the collective shout of many of the people in the room. There was no way that this....this....woman could have been one of Scotty's ancestors. The man in question paled slightly.

"But I highly doubt it means anything, after all genetics can totally change in...how ever far into the future I jumped," Orion said quickly, which sent everyone into whispers. Chekov now paled slightly but then flushed bright red with a wide grin on his face. He knew.

"Ye wouldn't have a brother named Artemis now would ye?' he asked in a slightly hesitation, and though he spoke rather softly, the hub bub ceased and all eyes went from Scotty to Orion. Orion stood wide eyed. How the hell did he know what her brother's name-

"Yes why?" she asked tentatively, unsure about whether or not she wanted to hear what they had to say about it.

"Er...well...there is no easy way to say this but, you and your brother are in part responsible for everything that is here and now," explained Scotty.

Orion fell off her chair. She and Arty were responsible in part for this future? "Ya'll are shitting me, right?" she asked as she looked at the crew as if they were crazy. There was almost no way that she and her brother could have started the beginnings of this fantastical future.

"No one is 'shitting' anyone or anything," said the elderly Vulcan who proceeded to stand. He started to pace around the room with his hands clasped behind him. "Orion Montgomery and her twin brother Artemis Montgomery were the first two who successfully time travel, at least if your appearance here is any indication.

"But upon his return to his original time, the biographies and newspapers of the era tell us the young man went crazy trying to recreate the time machine you two were able to build. Though his engineering skills were not quite up to your expertise, he was able to build many prototypes for much of what you see here and have seen on your way to this room. "

He stopped pacing and stood in front of Orion. He did something that made her wonder if he was Vulcan. The elderly one smiled sadly at her. "In his latter years, Artemis realized the futility of attempting to get here again. He married and named his child William Orion Montgomery in honor of your father and yourself."

Orion stared and stared. Her breathing was a little shaky and her hands were shaking. Bones had started toward her in case she should happen to go unconscious again. Orion's brow furrowed with her frown.

How the hell could Arty have been so stupid? She wasn't there, and Orion didn't want to know he wasted most of his life for a pointless folly. Sure she missed him like hell and he probably missed her worse, but the young woman wished he hadn't done that. Orion wanted him to have lived a happy and full life.

"Damn it," she muttered, looking at the floor around her and not at the people around her. Orion held her hand to her chin. "I see," muttered the young woman before she rose to her feet and brushed her clothes off (even though Orion had a feeling that dust fled the premises like people fleeing sandstorms or hurricanes).

"Seeing as we all know how you got here, and that you pose no threat to the Federation," started Kirk who was smirking again. "You have a few options to choose from."

Orion raised an eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. "And what are these options, Captain?" she asked with a small hint of sarcasm which made a few people snort and one grin even wider. Was there any bounds on this man's....eccentricity?

"Well, you can stay aboard and fine a suitable occupation after catching up, we could dump you at the next port and leave you for dead," he paused when everyone especially Orion glared at him. "What! It's an option albeit on we wont take!" he said in his defense. He huffed and cleared his throat. "Or the final option is that next time we make a shore leave on Earth, you could go make a life for yourself." He seemed a little saddened at that.

Orion looked down. "Can I think about it for a bit?" she asked looking up at directly at Kirk. "After all it's a life altering kind of decision...." she trailed off and shrugged. Orion was not one to make choices like that in a few moments unless the situation demanded an immediate response. At least she could spend some time to think about the possibilities and choose what she wanted and felt was the best thing for her life in what ever year it was.

The elderly Vulcan smiled ever so lightly. He seemed to admire that a human would show wisdom when such a decision seemed almost painfully obvious. This Vulcan knew that Orion was happiest when tinkering around, and though life on Earth could provide that, this young woman yearned for adventure. For he had met this young woman once before, and it was in part why he was there on the ship.

"Sure...I'll have someone show you to a room for the time being. Anything you need just use this to call and ask someone,' Kirk said holding out a communicator after he used it to get someone to bring Orion to a guest room.

Since she was officially a guest now, it was only proper. She could move into the quarters designed for the crew members if or when she decided to join. Until then, Kirk figured that even a woman such as Orion wouldn't be able to refuse the luxuriousness of a guest room.

"Thanks, Cap'n,' she said with a small smile before leaving the room with the aid who was called. On her way out, the young woman stared at the device in her hand with a calculating look.

Tonight along with thinking about what she should do with her life now, Orion would figure this thing out by pulling it apart, studying the parts and putting it back together hopefully working as well as it did before she 'destroyed' it. It was a think Orion did when she encountered some new equipment or technology. The young engineer claimed it helped her understand the device better than just reading and using it.

"No problem, Orion," he said with a nod right as the the doors swooshed closed, leaving the room in utter silence for a few moments before discussion of the new arrival on the USS Enterprise began in earnest.

* * *

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this installment. **_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	7. Powwow in the Conference Room

_**Author's note: **_

_**I need some input on who you'd like to see Orion with. **_

_**Current standings: Jim-2, Bones-1.  
**_

_**But with out further ado....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

"Captain, what will we do should the young human decide to stay aboard? She certaintly would be more of hindrance as we would have to teach her,' asked Spock who was looking bewildered. A sensation he did not often encounter. It was also one of the ones he hated the most. Why should one who was logical and knew almost everything suffer bafflement and confusion of not knowing?

"Can it pointy ears. Your aren't nearly as busy as you think you are. Whereas I could be in my office getting work done before three in the morning. Instead I'm stuck here discussing someone who just needs some time on her own to sort things out. Hell, I'd wager a weeks worth of Bourbon that Orion will stay aboard. She seems like the kind of woman who loves to learn and where better to learn about space than in space?" Bones said. He had taken a liking to Orion already, and he wouldn't mind teaching her the basics of the medicinal world.

"Will you too cease the jabber?" snapped Jim who made Chekov jump slightly with a squeak. He still tended to jump when Jim shouted and snapped, but it was so different from the flirtatious or arrogant tones Kirk's voice often held. Chekov often jumped before getting on with the command when Jim shouted in an almost crisis.

Uhura narrowed her eyes at the captain. She felt that Spock was correct in his assessment that if Orion desired to stay aboard, she certainly wouldn't have time to teach her basics of the common languages let alone the more complicated matters. Jim didn't to be so...snappy about it.

However since it appeared the pale skinned woman was more of an engineer, Uhura doubted she'd even need to teach Orion. One of the other communications officers could do that. 'But you know they will teach her incorrectly,' came the snarky voice in her head. Uhura wrinkled her nose and scowled. It was true, Uhura trusted no one else, except maybe Spock, when it came to alien languages.

"I think we could all figure out how to help Orion if she decides to stay. Scotty weren't you just telling me you needed another pair of hands, especially ones like Orions?" asked the captain as he looked at the Scotsman. Jim had noticed her hands, and knew they could work magic of the engineering sort and probably of the other sort to, but now wasn't the time to dwell on those savory thoughts.

"Aye. She's got those dainty hands that I'd wager could do a number on this ship if she knew what she was doing," Scotty acquiesced with a grin and a nod. "Besides, Spock and Uhura, you two would barely need to teach her anything really. On the other hand, I'd have my hands full," he said with a shrug.

He didn't care much one way or the other. The young lady would make a fine addition to the engineering section, and Scotty knew it. But he wanted Orion to chose for herself what to do. He wouldn't try to force to stay aboard. Scotty wasn't that desperate for help. The Chief Engineer could live with a cadet from the Academy, even if he could have his way, Orion would be first on his list.

"Mr. Scott is right,' said the elderly Vulcan. "The main reason for my presence here is to help teach the young lady. For some logical or illogical reason, Orion's arrival here is as the humans would say, 'destined to be'. Despite the shift in our time line because of Nero, Orion has appeared in both. "

Everyone sat back in there chairs and thought about what the Vulcan had just said. Most realized that, if she and her brother hadn't come to the future, they would not be out in space trying to discover new alien planets and life forms. They had much to owe to Artemis Montgomery and his obsession for trying to get back to see his sister. Who knew how their world would be if he had been successful. But only a few thought of the consequences and shudder at the thought.

"Well, as Spock stated, it appears she chooses to stay here. However, I don't think we should presume that she will. After all, Orion may not like here few nights aboard and wish to be back to terra firma pronto," said the captain with a small sigh. "So I suppose we just have to make her stay enjoyable. Help her get started on learning however much she missed. " Jim rose and stretched.

"Well, thanks or coming everyone, you are dismissed!" he said with a grin and watched as the crew hurried out to return to their jobs. After all while they were in the meeting, the ship had been going on 'inferior' officers who could have caused a lot of trouble in the twenty minutes their superiors were absent.

When all but two were left, Jim sighed and looked out the window. Millions of stars passed by in a blink of an eye. "Will it really be okay that she is here, Spock?" asked the captain who turned to face the elderly Vulcan. Spock sighed and stood a few feet away, peering out the next window.

"Jim, it will be. I remember much from her time spent on the Enterprise. Orion was happiest here. But I fear I have already said to much. But she will flourish here," he said before giving Kirk the Vulcan farewell and leaving the room for his quarters. Meditation was in order for the evening.

James Tiberius Kirk was the sole occupant of the room now. He stood tall with his hand clasped behind his back. His blue eyes gazed out at space with such a bittersweet look. If one had come in, he would have seen the epitome of a man who had lost much, but gained much more, only to wonder if it really mattered.

"I hope you are right, Spock. I hope you are right," he said quietly before turning and padding softly out of the room, for there was still work to be done that night.

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this I'm sorry if people are totally OOC...Im using this as my NaNoWriMo this month so I'm rushing a lot especially since I am WAY behind.  
**_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	8. Pavel Andreievich Chekov and Guest

_**Author's note: Kudos to those who got the movie reference in the title ^_^  
**_

_**I must apologize ahead of time for not typing Pavel's accent. If that irks you, I'm sorry. Most days I'm lucky to type normal accents correctly.  
**_

_**I NEED/WANT/MUST GET SOON some input on who you'd like to see Orion with. Current standings: Jim-2, Bones-1.  
**_

_**But with out further ado....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

Orion mumbled darkly under her breath while she paced the interior of her room for the hundredth time that evening. She was walking off the pain in her foot. See earlier, only an hour after the aid left her alone in the room, Orion got hungry. She scoured the place looking for food.

In a frustrated fury Orion kicked the side of the bed. It was too late to realize it was a metal bed. Howling in pain, the young woman hopped around on her foot before sitting on the bed and holding her throbbing foot.

"Why is there no food in this forsaken metallic alloy hunk of dung?" she growled in frustration. That had been a couple of hours ago. Orion decided to try the communicator out but again she realized that she didn't know how to work the damn device. So now in a foul mood, Orion Montgomery was pacing and thinking about what to do next.

It was one of the only things she could have done to keep from thinking of home. Orion knew it would do her little good to mope around wishing for something that just wouldn't happen. No, she wasn't going to do what Arty did, that much was certain.

Option one was to continue with her current occupation. However, Orion was getting bored of it even though it was a great way to burn the nervous energy while keeping her stomach silenced by the exercise. Most likely in a few hours, Orion would be ready to throw herself out the window and die from the lack of oxygen in space. Thus option one was a ixnay for the young woman.

Option two was summed up in one thing: food. Orion felt that if she did not get food soon, she might pass out again and die. Hence she thought it would be brilliant to go around and search for the mess hall or wherever they served food on the ship. Surely food had come a long way from pastes. Either way it would mean leaving the room which meant she was likely to get lost, stumble upon a hidden area of the ship, and never be seen from again. Yeah, the idea of dieing of hunger didn't appeal anymore than dieing of boredom or lack of oxygen.

Then there was option three which was appealing more and more as Orion thought about it. Her silvery gaze went to the communicator. Yes, option three it would be. Slowly as though she were approaching a wild animal, Orion stepped closer to the device. A glint crossed her eyes and a impish grin spread across her face.

"If you can't work it, figure it out," she said before snatching the communicator off the table and setting in on the floor that was now her new work space. Thankfully she had some tools on her because she was still in her worker suit that always had the essentials. Grinning like a madwoman, Orion sat on the floor Indian style and began to take apart the device.

Not really knowing or caring how much time had elapsed, Orion almost dropped a piece she thought was important when a loud knock resonated throughout the room. "What the hell?" she muttered, rising and almost toppling over again since her legs had gotten stiff. "Ack," she grumbled.

"What do ya want?" Orion sorta snappishly asked when she opened the door. She just hated being interrupted. Of course back home she wouldn't have snapped since her mother and father had been known to ground Arty and her from using their laboratory. One time it was so bad, the twins couldn't use their lab for almost a month.

She smiled apologetically at the Russian lad. He was kinda cute in a young lad almost man sort of way. "Sorry...Chekov? I was busy and I normally don't like being interrupted with a project, but what can I do for you?" she asked the kid who stared wide-eyed at her, shocked as if he wasn't expecting her to remember. Luckily for him, Orion was great with names.

The young ensign blushed but was very pleased that Orion remembered him. A wide grin spread across his face. He had idolized the Montgomery twins since he was very young, and now Pavel was beside himself. Never in a million years would have ever thought he'd meet Orion...the twin who disappeared 'mysteriously' or so a newspaper article read.

He was glad she was here. Pavel didn't feel so lonely now that someone who was kinda like him was aboard. Maybe the rest of the crew would stop teasing him and poking fun at his shortcomings because he hadn't hit a growth spurt. He could only hope.

"Y-yes. Well, I thought you might be hungry. I know that this ship is rather large and even I get lost from time to time, and so here I am with something I hope you like," he said with his adorable accent, stammering at first but gaining courage as Orion smiled. Pavel wanted to curse his bashful stammering tongue. Not that he felt any affection for the engineer, but it was more like trying not to look like an idiot in front of one of your life heroes.

"God bless you, Chekov! Seriously I was about to die of hunger!" she said with much gratefulness. Sure she had been distracted by the communicator, but maybe now with Chekov here, Orion might actually figure it out. After all the way it sounded back in the conference room, they shared much already. "So come in, come in!" the young woman gushed and stepped aside so the lad could enter.

As the ensign entered the room he raised an eyebrow at the mess on the floor that might have been a communicator. Orion chuckled and flushed slightly as she shut the door. "I got bored and it seemed like the perfect way to cure myself of it. But I haven't gotten very far since I barely know what I am doing. It's all so new."

She shrugged and picked up the sandwich from the plate and took it with her to the floor. Orion looked up at Chekov and patted the carpet floor near the pile. "Maybe you could help me?" she asked, hoping the Russian would agree. Orion did need help and wanted some company. Usually Artemis and she would talk occasionally and brainstorm while working on various projects.

Chekov looked uncertain. "Are you sure?" he asked, voicing his doubt. Why would she need his help? Although he could already tell she was starting down the wrong path to putting the communicator back together. Well, he could spare an hour or so helping Orion. He was technically off duty for the next few hours.

"Pavel...I can call you that right?" she asked worried that it wasn't acceptable but continued when he nodded emphatically. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure. I like having company while working. Artemis and I used to toss around ideas and just talk. It was really good and fun,' she aid with a sad smile that informed the ensign who saw more than some thought he did. Orion was doing this to help her to keep from thinking of her family.

"Sure, I can stay for a little while," he said sitting near the pile and Orion. "And if I might add, this is not right." He grabbed a few pieces. "These are suppose to go here," Pavel said, showing her what to do. Orion nodded and did as instructed.

The two worked and worked for the next couple of hours. They chatted about everything and nothing. Orion found out much about this time from Pavel who was more than willing to share his vast knowledge as well as learning a bit a various other things. Chekov was an excellent person to chat with.

On the other hand, Pavel enjoyed getting to find out things that the books and papers didn't print about Orion. He hadn't this much fun on the Enterprise since...well, he had fun with parts of things during the Narada invasion. However, the fact that they almost died was not fun.

It was nice to have someone to talk to who didn't make fun of him or look down at him like a kid. Orion didn't do that because she knew what it was like to be looked down because you happened to be young. Never mind having a brain that rivaled the masters, but people just couldn't get past that a young person could be that smart.

"Bridge to Ensign Chekov," came a tight and irritated tones of Captain Kirk. "Bridge to Ensign Chekov."

"Yes, Keptin?' asked the slightly petrified Russian as he answered his communicator. It sounded like Jim wasn't too happy with the young lad. Chekov wasn't aware of doing anything wrong so why would the captain be angry?

"Please report to the bridge asap...for your shift that started half an hour ago," said Kirk, who knew exactly where the Russian lad was, and he didn't like it. How was he suppose to get Orion to like him, if others had already started to worm their way into the young woman's heart? Jim wouldn't have it, at least not until he got a fair shot at Orion.

"Right away sir,' Pavel said in a sorrowful tone that reminded Orion of what a kicked puppy might sound like. It made her want to hug the young lad. Sighing once the connection had been cut, Pavel stood and turned to Orion with an apologetic smile on his lips. "I wish I could stay, but I suppose I have to go." Orion nodded softly as she stood as well to led him to the door. She didn't want him to get into anymore trouble...especially concerning her.

Orion opened the door and looked at Pavel with a small smile. "Thanks for coming and helping me out. I really appreciate it."

Pavel blushed a little and grinned sheepishly. "Your welcome. I enjoyed talking with you, and I am glad I could help," he said with his adorable accent. "Have a good night, Orion!" Chekov said as he left the room and started down the hall.

"Hey, Pavel!" she called to the ensign who pause and turned to see that Orion had followed him out of the room. "Listen," she started as she looked up at him with a serious expression. "i consider you a friend now, and as such, I have to tell you that you can't let anyone make you feel inferior. You have a brilliant mind and big heart. Don't let anyone tell you that those make you weak or insufficient. You are the way you are. Don't change that...ever."

Orion was speaking from experience. She and her brother both were brilliant, yet were always made to feel that their youth made it impossible for them to be great. Orion didn't want that for Pavel. Sure he had made it onto the best damn ship in the fleet, but she knew that people aboard would hate him and try to bring him down because of that.

Pavel gave a lopsided smile. "Thank you. I will try, but now I must go," he said before turning and strolling down the hall with a spring in his step. No one had ever initially been nice to him before. He had to work to gain their respect then friendship. After two short hours with Orion left Pavel feeling great, like the first day at Starfleet Academy.

"Good night, Pavel!" Orion called with a small laugh and a shake of her head before returning to her room for the rest of the night.\\

* * *

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this I'm sorry if people are totally OOC...Im using this as my NaNoWriMo this month so I'm rushing a lot especially since I am WAY behind.  
**_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	9. Parlance with Dr Leonard Bones McCoy

_**Author's note:  
**_

_**Well, for at least one reader who was hoping for some more Bones/Orion action...here is the promised chapter.  
**_

_**I NEED/WANT/MUST GET SOON some input on who you'd like to see Orion with. Current standings: Jim-2, Bones-1.  
**_

_**But with out further ado....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

"Damn it, Jim!" Bones said with his perpetual scowl firmly in place. "You're being a bit irrational about this and one might even say that you are over reacting to the extreme!"huffed the good doctor. Bones had just spent the last couple of hours listening to jim rant and rave and threaten Chekov for being late. McCoy also knew the captain was probably more pissed that the ensign was spending time with a certain woman from the past who recently boarded the Enterprise.

Jim stared incredulously at Bones. Had the doctor not heard a single word? "Over reacting, Bones?" exclaimed Kirk, whose eyes might have popped out at any moment. Deep down jim knew Leonard was right. McCoy was almost always right when it came to matters of the heart, just as Spock was almost always right when it came to matters of the mind. Jim sighed and rubbed his throbbing temples. "It's not fair, Bones!" he pouted and whined. "How come Chekov gets to take a whack at her...get on her good side and all, while I'm stuck up here?"

Bones groaned and almost slapped his palm on his forehead. "You're acting like an infant again, Jim,' he warned, knowing that the remark might help slap some maturity onto the captain. "Besides, Chekov is just a kid still," McCoy reasoned. "He was just visiting with his hero for Pete's sake! I mean if your hero had just boarded, what would you have done?" Bones gave Kirk a pointed look which was meant to convey that the captain would have done the same. Whether Kirk would admit it or not, it was the truth.

By talking to Jim, Bones had hoped to have Jim see some reason to not beat the Russian kid. The Chief Medical officer sighed, shaking his head a little. He had better things to do than sit around and chat with Jim about his over reacting to Chekov's absence. "Just don't be too hard on the lad," Bones muttered as the happy Russian bounced onto the bridge with his wide grin still intact. And that was how it ought to be. So far the ensign had not seen much of the world and its effects, like Bones. 'Keep that smile on, kid,' Bones thought with a little sadness.

However, as the doctor left the bridge, a faint smile appeared on his features. Chekov hadn't appeared that happy in a couple years. Sure there had been a few things to keep a smile on the Russian, but nothing that had him smiling from ear to ear (which made Bones shake his head as he remembered Spock pointing out the impossibility of a person to grin or smile from ear to ear). Maybe having Orion aboard would be a good thing for everyone, though one Leonard McCoy would never own to it.

"Your behavior, though unsatisfactory to this ship's captain, will be excused this one time, Chekov. One time only," were the final words the good doctor heard Jim say as the door of the turbo-lift finally swooshed shut, leaving McCoy alone for a few moments of quiet. He was glad Kirk chose to do the right thing and just let Pavel off with a warning. It showed that Kirk was a understanding and gracious captain.

McCoy sighed and leaned against the wall. His current impression was one of brooding, but those who knew the doctor knew that he was merely thinking. Bones especially did not like to be disturbed while he was thinking, hence the unapproachable appearance on his part.

Once the turbo-lift had stopped, the Chief Medical Official sauntered down the hall toward his medical bay. He had barely been in there all day and had left his 'baby' in the capable hands of Nurse Chapel. She was the only one that McCoy trusted to keep his bay running smoothly and not end up a mess or in chaos, and so she was in charge when he was gone. And so far she had not let the good doctor down.

"Welcome back, doctor," came the sweet and gentle tones of Nurse Chapel as Bones breezed passed her and into his office.

"Thanks! Do you think you could stand to watch the Bay for a little bit longer?," he called from his office while he searched for a smaller medical kit. He was sure there was at least one lying around (though the space was small enough that the doctor wondered how the hell he couldn't find any).

"Sure, " responded Chapel who was rather worried about her boss. He had been away from the Medical Bay for almost the entire day. That never happened. Bones had been away more in this one day than he had for the past month. Although she wasn't one hundred percent sure, Chapel had a feeling that it had to do with that pretty young woman who had been in earlier. Deep down, Christine hoped that maybe this woman could be the one who could help bring Doctor McCoy out of his funk that he got from that disastrous divorce.

Once Bones reemerged from his office with medical kit in hand, he looked at Chapel expectantly. "Well?" he asked, wondering if she would or wouldn't. He really did need to go and see if Orion was doing fine. After all, the shots he administered might have caused some sort of problem. Leonard also wanted to give the young lady a fair warning about Jim. She needed to know about him before she got her heart broken by Jim and his ways.

Christine Chapel just smiled and shook her blond head. He was an easy read. He wanted to go check up on the woman and warn her about the flirts aboard. She wondered silently if he would warn Orion (at least that was what she heard the woman's name was) about himself. 'Probably not,' she thought wryly. "I'd be more than willing, sir," she said with a small nod and watched as the CMO waltzed out the door.

Bones wondered as he wandered toward the guest chambers if was going to check on Orion for purely medical reasons. If Leonard was honest with himself, of course he wasn't going just to check on her. To be brutally honest, McCoy was going to warn Orion about Jim and his...womanizing ways. To be gut wrenchingly honest, Bones was going because he wanted to know more about this curious woman who could be the answer for so many of the crew.

Orion could be that best friend who understood Pavel like no one else. Someone who could possibly out logic Spock...or at least make it hard for the Vulcan to prove himself correct. A dynamite assistant to Scotty who was in desperate need of a second in command. A woman who could whip Jim into place.

And for himself? Bones didn't think Orion could do much for him. Although McCoy hoped that they could at least be friends. As much as he agreed with Jim about her physical attractiveness, the good doctor wasn't sure if he was ready to take the leap into the pool of dating and romance. So the best he wanted or hoped for was friendship.

As he rounded the corner of an empty hallway, Bones heard a loud _bang _followed by a rather unladylike, "Bloody effing hell!" coming from the room that was undoubtedly Orion's. The doctor bit back a smirk as he rushed to the room and overrode the door (though in normal circumstances he would have knocked, but if she was seriously hurt, there was no time to be the gentleman that he was).

"Are you alright?" a worried Bones asked upon actually entering the room. However, he was stopped a little short at the sight in front of him. His mouth dropped slightly. Leonard McCoy thought he had seen it all when he saw Jim and Gaila doing a drunken chicken dance, but this was right up there.

"What the hell are you doing?!" cried Orion, who was a little flushed with embarrassment. She had been hopping on one foot (the same one she hurt earlier) with some hair singed and her face a little smudge with dirt. Almost the epitome of a mad scientist, in Bones' opinion..

"Well when one hears a shout of possible injury, he tends to be a little worried. And you aged me prematurely...." muttered Bones with an eye roll as he shut the door. He walked over to the table and set the kit down.. An eyebrow was raised at the sight of the mess of burnt electronics on the carpet.

Orion raised an eyebrow. "Well, excuse me for living. I just wanted to get that blasted piece of junk put back together. I was connecting some wires when BAM, it explodes, causing me to endure the smell of burnt hair again, and trip over my foot...again," she said in the same kind of tone that the doctor was famous for. Bones just shook his head. "And what the hell are you doing here anyway?" she asked, wondering why the doctor decided to pay her a little visit.. She hopped onto the counter of the little kitchenette.

McCoy chuckled slightly. "Just here to make sure that your not gonna kill yourself, and to make sure the shots I gave you earlier aren't causing your system to go berserk," he said with a quick uplift of the eyebrows while he was getting his scanner out. "That, and to give you a word or two about a certain James Tiberius Kirk."

From her perch on the counter, Orion tilted her head in a curious pose. "And what pray tell are you going to warn me about? That he's an insatiable flirt? That he may see me as just another challenge, another notch on the bed post. To be one the first person in this time to bed a time traveler of sorts?" she scoffed. As if she needed to be warned about his character.

If there was one thing Orion knew, it was people like the captain. Once when she was in her teens, Orion had opened herself up to a man exactly like Kirk. Suffice it to say it ended with her heart in pieces, and Artemis needing to take a few hours at the family cabin alone. She knew that he blamed himself for not seeing through the guy's lies. Orion shook her head. Thinking of home and family at the moment just wasn't too smart. Especially since it appeared that Bones was not the kind of person to be the best at the whole comforting thing.

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "Your powers of observation are astounding. At least I can scratch that off my to do list," he said sarcastically, which caused Orion to snort a bit.. "But in all seriousness, just be careful around him. He knows every trick in the book," Bones said as he neared Orion with his scanner in hand.

"I will take it into consideration, doctor," she said with a small smirk before looking at the metallic object with slight distaste. "But what exactly is that?" she asked, not exactly loving the feeling of having an unknown object near her body in any way shape or form.

"Relax. It's just like an x-ray, cat scan, MRI, and any other kind of testing all bunched up into one device," Bones explained before waving the device over Orion's body. The young woman felt a little awkward in the silence.

"My dad was a doctor...sort of. More like surgeon," she said trying to dispel the awkwardness. McCoy raised an eyebrow but otherwise did not respond. Rather he continued to check Orion's vitals. "He was a brain surgeon and a damn good one too." Orion smiled lightly. Bones couldn't help but like that smile of hers. Almost contagious. However, it turned a bit wry along with a laugh. "But I suppose his methods would be considered archaic, even Dark Age almost, huh?" she half-heartedly asked.

Bones was in thought but looked up when he didn't hear Orion speaking anymore. "Yes, indeed. Very stone age. But all seems in order, so I suppose I should get going before Jim threatens me with some ghastly thing like teaching basic first aid to Ensigns." McCoy shuddered at the thought. It was bad enough to see those snot nosed brats with a serious case of hypochondria. To be forced to teach them? Nightmare to the tenth degree.

Orion snickered a little. She liked Bones. He was not quite what she had expected. So far he and Pavel had been able to get a laugh out of her. The young woman liked people who could make her laugh. However, after a moment of thought, Orion's silvery eyes widened. "Did that damn cap'n threaten, Pavel?" she asked, jumping off the counter and getting ready to storm up to the bridge (never mind that she had no idea where where it was), and give Jim a very peppy verbal assault.

Bones sighed. He admired her sense of indignation for a friend. It was something he had only seen in a hand-full of people before he came to the Enterprise. Almost everyone on board would give an arm, leg or even life for his friend. It was nice to see that people from the past (okay so Orion ended up being the sole model of what a twenty-first century person was like, but that was okay with Bones. If that meant most were pretty women with silvery eyes...he as definitely okay with it) still had that kind of quality.

"Now before you go storming to the castle you don't know the location of, I talked some sense into Jim, and he only gave Chekov a warning this time.," Bones said as he put his medical stuff back in his bag. He could analyze it later, though he wasn't for sure when later would be Just sometime when he had some time which was almost never. Sighing, the doctor turned and looked at Orion with an unreadable expression. "That boy admires you, Orion Montgomery," he said bluntly, evoking a confused furrow of Orion's brow.

She started to pace. "I can call you Bones, right?" Orion asked, pausing slightly to look at the doctor. He nodded, which signaled Orion to commence her pacing again. "Okay, Bones," she said quietly, trying the nickname that fit the doctor out on her lips. It sounded nice. A much better name for him than Leonard. Said doctor stared at her as though he should have run a mental check as well.

Orion clasped a hand under her chin.. It was her typical thinking pose. Pausing again, she turned to Bones with a questioning visage. "What exactly do you mean when you say that Pavel 'admires' me?" The young Montgomery lass was a little scared to find out what Bones meant. She wouldn't have been able to handle finding out that she had a 'love' kind of admirer, especially since she hadn't been there for a full day yet, and Orion was not one to believe in love at first sight..

Bones helped himself to a chair, sitting on it with the back between his legs. "Not the love kind of admire. No, he's too young for that anyway," the doctor started with slight sadness in his tone that had Orion wondering what caused it. Fortunately she knew this was a time to keep her mouth shut. She would just have to ask him again at a later time.

McCoy took a deep breath before exhaling. "Well you know how Jim said that Pavel was a genius? And by now you know that too. So what does it have to do with you and your brother?" Bones smirked a little before shaking his head. "The kid found a history book for various inventions, and it happened to feature your brother." The doctor shrugged and leaned his forearms on the top of the chair back. "Suffice it to say that it really inspired little Pavel. Give him a few other science books, the bes teaching despite his slightly poor background, an Academy scout in Russia at the right time...and voila...you have the ensign we all know and love."

Orion had a lopsided grin on her face. So all that hard work she and her brother did was not a waste. Inspiring brilliant minds to work was something that Orion and Artemis had planned on doing once they got too old for their craft. Artemis would have been glad to know that at least one person gleamed from his work, since Orion wasn't there for most, in fact all, of it. "Thank you, Bones. I needed that," she said softly. The doctor rolled his eyes as if to say 'if you say so' and nodded.

"Medical Bay to Doctor McCoy...." chirped a tense sounding Nurse Chapel. In the background Bones could hear the chaos. What ever had happened was not good. Time for another long night, but McCoy didn't mind so much.

"I'll be right there...keep that fracas under control for a couple more minutes," Bones said hurriedly as he rose from the chair. Once the connection had been cut, he looked at Orion. "It was good to chat normally, and I'll have the results for you sometime tomorrow," he said while walking to the door and opening it. "Sleep well, Orion," McCoy said before leaving her alone for the second time that night.

"Good night!" she called softly, though she knew that he would not hear her. Sighing, Orion stretched and strolled to the bed. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, the young Montgomery lass was fast asleep and drifting into her dreamland.

* * *

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this I'm sorry if people are totally OOC...Im using this as my NaNoWriMo this month so I'm rushing a lot especially since I am WAY behind.**_

_**Also, I'm sorry if you seem it's unfair to give Bones a longer chapter than Pavel, but in all seriousness...Bones and Jim are the two possible love interests so chapters involving them will probably be a bit longer than the others.  
**_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	10. Prattles in the Night

_**Author's note:****  
**_

_**I would like some input on who you'd like to see Orion with. Current standings: Jim-3, Bones-2(I cast my vote, only because I honestly can see her with either one but Bones is my favorite character so I'd vote or him even if I end up pairing Orion with Jim. XD)  
**_

_**But with out further ado....I give you the next chapter!  
**_

* * *

The young lass had nightmare after nightmare about Artemis and her family. After one particularly bad one, Orion had bolted away with tears running down her face and sweat (for she was a girl who didn't glow or glisten or even perspire) dripping down her neck. She took a few minutes in the very nice bathroom to clean up a little, after which Orion decided to take a walk to clear her head since her last attempt had ended with little success.

Upon opening her door, Orion stuck her head out and peered up and down the halls. Her concept of time was a little whacked, but she was sure it was close to the dead of night. Which explained the reason why she saw no one. Not to mention the fact that the guest quarter wasn't used too frequently, so not many people wandered that way( at least that was what she heard from the young lady who brought her to the room). Tonight, Orion was thankful for that.

Orion stepped out the room with extreme caution. She remembered those times that she had sneaked around her own home while her parents were asleep, and used the same kind of maneuvers. However once the loud (comparatively speaking since she had just gotten accustomed to silence) swish of the shutting door shocked Orion wide awake, the young woman dropped to the flats of her feet and continued down the hall as if there was nothing she could do to wake up anyone in the vicinity.

She had only gone a few doors down when a beautiful melody resonated through the door. It was like nothing she had ever heard before. Orion had knocked on the door before she even realized it. The music stopped, though she wished it hadn't despite the fact she was the very person to interrupt. Only a few moments later the door glided open. The young woman was a little shocked to see the elderly Vulcan there.

"Miss Montgomery, this is a pleasant surprise," he said quietly as though there were more guests trying to sleep. For all Orion knew, every room she had past could have been filled with aliens or humans.

She smiled lightly at the elderly gentleman. He seemed, in her mind at least, to be almost the perfect grandfather figure. Her brow furrowed slightly. What she couldn't understand was what he was doing up so late. "Sir, if you don't mind my asking, why are you up so late?" Orion asked, using a formal sir, since she did not know the Vulcan's name, plus she didn't wat to seem rude.

He smiled softly, though from what Orion saw of Spock, Vulcans were not so big on the whole emoting thing. "I might ask you the same thing," he said with slight amusement, but undercurrents of something that Orion couldn't quite place. Like he knew something that she didn't (although given his age, she doubted there was something she knew yet the Vulcan didn't).

Orion scowled with a slight smirk before she frowned. Tilting her head to the side, she looked up at the taller man. "How come you shook your head when Cap'n was about to introduce you? Who are you?" she asked, hoping she wasn't insulting him.

The Vulcan just stared slightly. Her observation skills were sharper than he remembered. Nodding slightly, he left the room. "Care for a tour of the Enterprise? I guarantee to convey all that I can, though you are a smart woman and will logically get the correct conclusion eventually," he said as the doors closed behind him. .

"Are you sure you know your way around the place?" asked Orion once the started down the hall. She was skeptical because how was he to know about the ship if he was a guest too. Though in reality Orion figured he had been here at least one time before or else he wouldn't have offered..

Looking over and up, Orion saw a nostalgic smile grace the weathered face of the Vulcan. "I have spent and will spend much of my adult life aboard this ship," he began while looking in awe at the walls and people. It was as if he was reliving the first time on board. "The USS Enterprise...words fail me at this point to describe how much this vessel has meant to me. How it will mean to me," he said, gently leading Orion down a different hallway.

"Sir, how could you you spend most of your adult life on board and not be an officer?" Orion inquired. The way he was talking was confusing her. Why both past and future? Did the Vulcan really plan to stay aboard till he died?

The elderly gentleman gestured toward some rooms. "These are recreational rooms where crew members can come to relax and socialize," he said before slowly continuing on. "Orion, you and I are more alike than you might realize." He paused and turned to look at Orion. "We are both out of our natural times."

Orion stared at him with her mouth agape. Her eye were wide, but her brow furrowed in thought. Her mind was mulling things over. "So you traveled back in time then, correct?" she asked of him. With a slight nod from him, Orion nodded. "Right, so..."

Comprehension dawned on Orion's features. "Oh my giddy horse lovin' aunt," she said with little surprise. "You're Spock. That is why Cap'n hesitated when he introduced you...well your younger self. He wasn't sure if you wanted to be recognized as the same person." She grinned slightly. "Didn't want to overload my pitifully illogical mind by seeing that all those movies and books had time continuum wrong?" she mused with amusement.

"Hardly," he said with slight amusement himself. "You have one of the more logical humans I have been fortunate enough to be acquainted with." His brow furrowed slightly before returning to the usual 'dead' expression which was softened a little in light of knowing Orion and old age. "Shall we continue? I think I should bring you to where you will be working, once you learn a couple hundred years worth of engineering knowledge," Spock said as he returned to walking, this time toward the turbo-lift.

Orion had seen the frown and wondered if there was something older Spock wasn't saying. She shook it off though, figuring she could always ask at a later time. "Sure I'd love to. And exactly how am I to learn...." Orion trailed off. "Hundreds?" she squeaked.

"Yes. Hundreds. Your time machine didn't have any program to say how far into the future to bring you. Some aboard this ship would say Fate brought you and your brother here and was what pulled your brother back to the twenty first century. Undoubtedly, young Ensign Chekov shared with you the accounts of three years ago with a Romulan rogue, Nero," Spock turned his head to see Orion nod. The turbo lift doors swung open, and the two night wanderers entered. Spock entered the destination in before he resumed his response to Orion's question.

"His appearance altered the reality. What I know of Captain James Tiberius Kirk is different than what my young self would know. In this reality, Jim never knew his father. From where I came from, Jim's father played a significant role in Jim's joining Starfleet and being able to become a captain at such a young age. " Spock sighed and stared straight ahead of them though all that was there was the walls of the lift.

Orion looked at him. She could understand now why he seemed so aged. Chekov told her all he knew, which was most of the details. Her heart went out to the Vulcan who just wanted to do right by the Romulans, yet failed and ended up losing basically all that was important in his life. She now fully understood why it was hard for Spock to explain with words how much the Enterprise meant to him.

"Your appearance is more than coincidence. You appeared in my time as well as in this new reality. According to how things had been going, you shouldn't have appeared. However, I would propose to those who question that if neither you nor your brother arrived, all that is would never have been," Spock explained, hoping to quench some of the numerous questions Orion was probably thinking of.

She had been a very inquisitive person, and he had enjoyed their bouts of logical debate along with answering her questions (though admittedly he did that to prove how superior his knowledge was in comparison to her petty knowledge base). Spock remembered how she often responded to his "highly illogical" comments. Orion said that he may have had the best brains in the world, but what was brains without wisdom or common sense or a heart of emotions? To which he would often just stare at her before murmuring a "fascinating" and walk away.

The turbo lift stopped, the doors opened and the two figures walked out and down the hall. "This is the engineering quarter...and the engine is just through there," Spock stated almost in a dead accurate tone of a bored tour guide, despite the feeling Orion got that he was anything but bored.

As for her, Orion was totally awake now. She knew so much more even from the small chats with Chekov, Bones, and Spock. At least she understood more of the crew. Her eyes went wide as she took in all the mechanical and electrical things about her. It was almost as if she had died and gone to her personal heaven. Orion was itching to try things out. However, she knew that her greedy hands wouldn't be touching a thing until she knew what she was doing.

"When can I start this learning?" she implored Spock while looking around her. One might think she was a child in her favorite store. It was a tell tale sign that this was the area of the ship where Orion belonged. Of course Spock knew that even before he was aware of her presence in this time.

Spock tilted his head slightly. "In the morning after you have rested, and had a proper meal, I will assist you, since most crew members have rather inflexible schedules."

Orion turned and smiled at Spock. "Thanks. And now that you mention it, I am feeling a little tired now. Do you think we could continue this riveting discussion later?" she wondered as she wandered back to the door where Spock stood. The Vulcan nodded and lead Orion back to her room.

"Good night, Orion," Spock said softly before lifting a hand. His face was impassive, void of much, like his younger self. He held up an aged hand. "Live long and prosper," he said with great feeling. "It is the typical Vulcan farewell. Although a farewell is not quite appropriate as we shall be seeing each other in the morning, I wished to introduce you to some Vulcan culture. Should you run into my younger self, I think you may surprise him with that small bit of knowledge." Spock had a twinkle of mischief in his dark eyes.

Orion grinned when she noticed that. She already loved the elderly Spock better. He wasn't quite as uptight or rigid. Orion liked his suggestion. It might prove to be interesting to rile the young Spock to loose that stoic facade even for a moment. Her grin soften to a smile. "Thank you so much for everything, Spock. And you have a good night and sweet dreams," she quietly bade him before entering her room.

Spock knew at one point he would have mentioned to Orion how illogical dreams were, however, tonight she had taken in much information, and would not have appreciated a logical discussion. He shook his head slightly before padding slowly and silent down the hall in a ponderous expression. "Still a very fascinating woman."

* * *

_**Author's note;**_

_**Thank you for reading! I hope you take some time to review! Don't forget I'm still wishing for some input!**_

_**I hope you enjoyed this I'm sorry if people are totally OOC. I'm trying I really am. Deal with it XD.  
**_

_**But again I digress, thanks and hope you read again!  
**_


	11. Poked from the Author

Artemis Montgomery stared dumbfounded at what was around him. The walls and tools and monitors and papers of his laboratory glared back His eyes were wide, his mouth was slack-jawed. Not a moment early had he been with Orion in the future. And then that blasted light which dragged him back here What the hell had happened? Why was it just him? How was Orion? What went wrong? The young man's mind raced with so many unanswered questions. Questions that would never be answered in his meager lifetime.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**This was more of a just a little snippet that I thought might have been nice to add just because I felt like it. Also it allows me to have a nice AN chat with you all**_

_**I thank all of those who have reviewed. It means much to me that you would take the extra minute to just say how much you liked the reviews have often brightened my day significantly. So I thank you again.**_

_**Also, I'm still unsure where exactly I'm going to take this story, so please be patient. I must ask for some margins and pardons for mistakes and OOCness because half the time I write, I am very tired or just wanting to do something to occupy my mind. **_

_**I am still in need of input with the pairing(as I totally don't care. I can see Orion with either one). There is only so much more I can write until I can make any romantic advances from either party.**_

_**Current Standings: **_

_**James Tiberius Kirk- 3**_

_**Leonard "Bones" McCoy- 2**_

_**Don't like the numbers? Just click the little review button and type a name.**_

_**Thanks for reading! Have a good day!**_

**Preview of Next Chapter:**

_The same old Kirk that she had been expecting the whole time. Orion glared at him. She was not amused at being called a lady. Call it childish, but Orion was really only lady in gender and a few other things. Other than that, she didn't really see herself as a lady. _

_She rolled her eyes as he chuckled. "Don't you have, oh I don't know, work to do elsewhere on this ship?" Orion asked with a bit of ice and a bit of sarcasm. Of course he did, so why he was wasting precious working time, delivering something that he could have had another deliver confused Orion. _

_Jim stared at her, almost as if she had shot him. He was not used to hearing those kind of statements from someone with breasts. In fact, the captain thought that Bones had temporarily inhabited the woman. "Why yes, yes I do. But I'll get to when I want to," he said with a small pout.. But he had a plan. Oh yes, James T. Kirk had a plan._

_Orion raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you become a seven year old child?" she snipped, crossing her arms and sitting up on the bed. _

_The captain shrugged. "You're a genius, you tell me," he said before sitting down in a chair. Orion glared at him. It was more like the look he was used to getting from Bones when he was acting particularly childish. If Jim didn't know any better he would have sworn that Orion was actually an ancestor to the grumpy doctor. _

_"I have every right to act as I please...being captain and all," he said while looking at his fingernails. The very picture of a rebellious child who was bored with the lecturing. _

_"Are you trying to piss me off with your arrogance and in general your pride?" Orion asked exasperatedly as she rose from the bed and stood by a window._


	12. Parley with the Cap'n

Countless hours later, Orion woke to the bright light of a few stars. She was a little disoriented until the events of the previous day attacked her memory with full throttle. All the sudden Orion felt very much alone...just a little blip on a radar somewhere. She was grateful for the company which she had the previous day because it helped stave off what was hitting her now. And Orion rather it hit when no one was around than when everyone could see her break down.

Never in her life had Orion spent more than 20 hours away from Artemis. It was a little unsettling not to have that calming force that he oozed. Orion worried about him. How was he faring? She at least had some people who distracted her through those initial hours. He had no one but her parents. Her parents...how were they? Her poor father...

Orion felt tears pricking her eyes. "No!" she shouted in attempt to stop them from falling. However, it didn't help since the tears fell anyway. How could she not cry? She lost her entire life, albeit it somewhat willingly (after all she knew that the possibility of returning was slim to none...but that was when Artemis was still with her). A loss was still a loss, and Orion wasn't heartless. She missed her family. The young woman curled up into a ball on the bed, allowing the tears to silently stream down her face.

She had no idea how long she cried but Orion froze upon hearing someone out side her room. "Good morning, Orion!" came the chipper, and annoying voice of the last person Orion wanted to see at this time. How could he be so happy and generally alive so early? Probably was part of his job to one of the first people awake and one of the last to go to sleep. It was unbelievable really.

"No! Go away, Cap'n. I don;t want to talk to anyone at the-" Orion yelled angrily before shrieking went he entered anyway.. "What the hell are you doing?!" she shouted before turning away to wipe her tears away. Like hell would she let Jim see the tears. "Don't you know it's rather rude to enter a room when you weren't invited in?" she seethed, glaring silvery daggers at the Captain.

James chuckled at Orion's indignation, but when he saw Orion, any comment of the sarcastic or flirtatious nature that was just waiting to come out froze on his lips. Jim may not have been a total genius like Chekov or Scotty or even Spock, but he wasn't blind. Orion's eyes were puffy and blood shot, and her lower lip was quivering slightly (though that might have been from anger though Jim was almost certain it was because she was crying).

He felt his heart go out to the young woman. After all, the excitement of yesterday had worn off and now she was faced with a whole new world...with no one there beside her. Jim understood what it was like to have nothing...be alone in the world. Sure he had a 'family' but nothing like what he read Orion had. Hell, her brother spent almost forty years trying to bring her back, not to mention get himself back. Jim never knew that kind of love, but he still knew the kind of pain she was going through.

Orion stared at the Cap'n. Why was he looking at her with an odd expression? "What?" she snapped. If he was just going to stand there and gape at her like an animal in the zoo, he could leave. The sooner the better, Orion thought as she looked out a window.

"I just came by to give you the layout of the ship. I am aware you know where some of the places of importance are, but I figured a layout of the entire place might prove handy." Kirk said as he set somethings down on the table. Whatever it was he was going to say to try to comfort Orion didn't seem too important right at the moment. Jim could read from her tone and body language that if he hinted at knowing she had cried, he'd be close to a dead man.

After he finished setting the things on the table, Jim turned back to Orion. "I also brought you a PADD which will be your best friend for catching up. This one just covers information on the twenty first century, and a little bit extra, but just come by the bridge when you're ready for another one," Kirk offered a weak smile.

Orion appreciated that he wasn't trying to hit on her at the moment. He probably could tell that she was having a rough morning already, much to her displeasure of having anyone see her in this kind of state. "Thank you," she said quietly. However, Jim's excellent hearing caught it, causing his smile turn into a grin.

"Anything for a pretty lady." And there it was. The same old Kirk that she had been expecting the whole time. Orion glared at him. She was not amused at being called a lady. Call it childish, but Orion was really only lady in gender and a few other things. Other than that, she didn't really see herself as a lady.

She rolled her eyes as he chuckled. "Don't you have, oh I don't know, work to do elsewhere on this ship?" Orion asked with a bit of ice and a bit of sarcasm. Of course he did, so why he was wasting precious working time, delivering something that he could have had another deliver confused Orion.

Jim stared at her, almost as if she had shot him. He was not used to hearing those kind of statements from someone with breasts. In fact, the captain thought that Bones had temporarily inhabited the woman. "Why yes, yes I do. But I'll get to when I want to," he said with a small pout.. But he had a plan. Oh yes, James T. Kirk had a plan.

Orion raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you become a seven year old child?" she snipped, crossing her arms and sitting up on the bed.

The captain shrugged. "You're a genius, you tell me," he said before sitting down in a chair. Orion glared at him. It was more like the look he was used to getting from Bones when he was acting particularly childish. If Jim didn't know any better he would have sworn that Orion was actually an ancestor to the grumpy doctor.

"I have every right to act as I please...being captain and all," he said while looking at his fingernails. The very picture of a rebellious child who was bored with the lecturing.

"Are you trying to piss me off with your arrogance and in general your pride?" Orion asked exasperatedly as she rose from the bed and stood by a window. The stars zoomed by like the lights did on the highways back home. Such a nostalgic, bittersweet feel about it. Those were the kinds of feelings Orion loved, much to the displeasure of her mother. So who cared if she sometimes loved to feel small and insignificant in this big wide world, or that she felt that there was something out there?

Orion was pulled from her reverie by the Cap'n's drawl-like arrogant speech. "No, but I see that it's working regardless," he humored with a smirk. Orion rolled her eyes at the man-child (as it didn't appear to her that he grew up at all, despite being a year or two her senior), and turned her attention to those things which deserved her observation: the stars.

A small smile graced her face. The lights from the room and space made her look like a faerie who was proud of her work. "Aren't they beautiful?" she asked suddenly turning to face Kirk. She wondered if the sight of this beauty every day, jaded the crew to how incredible it was that they were in space in the first place.

Orion had often loved looking at the stars at night with her father. It was one of the few things for which she could use to claim her girly-ness. What man, other than her father of course, would be crazy enough to look at the stars and have such a romantic view of them? Orion's point exactly.

"Yeah, they sure are," he murmured lightly. Jim just stared awestruck at the woman in front of him. She had gone to being as good as Bones' twin to a romantically inclined woman all in a matter of moments. Despite being a self-proclaimed expert on women, it still terrified Jim how women could change emotions with a flip of a switch.

The Montgomery lass wrinkled her nose slightly before giving a bittersweet smile to the Cap'n before looking back at the bright stars and galaxies. "I...," she started with a chuckle, and Jim leaned forward, anxious to hear what she was going to say. "My dad and I., and occasionally Arty, would gaze at the stars. Childishly, I would share my dreams with my dad and brother...about how I knew.," she wrinkled her nose again, as though it weren't exactly the right word. Jim smiled lightly. She was adorable when sharing something personal like this, though it worried him slightly. "More like I felt that there was more to the universe than just us. I never thought I'd find out quite personally that I was right," she said wryly.

Jim frowned a bit. This was certainly not what he was expecting, nor did he wish her to seem so melancholy about it. Hell, he was trying to keep her from being melancholy. He grinned, though thinking of something that would hopefully get a rise out of her. "I bet your name sake 'whispered' that knowledge to you," he mused lightly, causing Orion to blush a nice shade of pink before scowling at him.

The Cap'n held up his hands and had a look of mild innocence(since he rarely had a purely innocent demeanor about him. Always up to something and causing some sort of trouble). "I didn't mean it offensively. It was just a musing that I happened to voice. But since we are on the topic of names...what about yours? I learned about Orion back in elementary, but I never thought it would be a girl's name," Jim said quickly to get his explanation out before Orion could butt in with a sarcastic comment.

Orion couldn't help but smile She knew that this question about her name would have shown up sooner or later. However, what caused her to smile was the person who asked the question. Never in her short time aboard the Enterprise would she have thought Kirk to be intelligent about anything other than how to run a ship and women. In other words, she would have thought Spock would have asked about the peculiarity of a woman being named after a mythological man, not Captain James T. Kirk.

"That's a good question," Orion said as she waltzed over to the counter. With a small shrug she hopped onto the counter and received a raised eyebrow of amusement from Kirk. He used to do that kind of thing whenever his mom was planet side. Damn those were good times....But now was not the time to reminisce on his shitty life before Starfleet.

The young woman shrugged again and leaned forward. "My parents, Doctor and Mrs William Montgomery were brilliant in their own regard. Yet even brilliant people are known to go through brief bouts of insanity," she started to explain, and Kirk couldn't help but wonder what would happen when Chekov or Spock hit that point.

Orion sighed and pushed some hair out of her face while her face screwed in concentration. Jim thought it was a cute quirk. "Anyway," she started again with a title of her head. "My parents hit theirs when my mom discovered horoscope and mythology." Orion shook her head and chuckled. Apparently it always amazed her at how scientific her parents were, and yet they for a time were wrapped up in the most unscientific thing she knew of.

"So of course she dragged my father into it, after all he loved my mom very much and got involved with whatever interested her despite being a busy man ," she said with a smile. Her parents love for each other was very evident from the small notes to extravagant gestures. It was what Orion wanted from a man. His full love in the small things as well as the large ones. However, her thoughts were straying and she shook her head to help clear her mind.

On the other hand, Jim was very interested in what she was saying. He could see where this was heading, and wanted to know if his initial guess was correct. Yet, Kirk was enjoying listening to Orion speak about her parents. It was obvious that they were a close knit family, despite what articles said about them spending little time together. In a way, Jim was envious. She had the kind of family he had always wanted, but never got.. His brow furrowed slightly at these thoughts. No matter what Jim felt or thought, there was no denying that he was placed with the family he did have for a reason. A reason that Jim knew not.

After returning to a passive expression, Jim nodded at Orion for her to continue. She just wrinkled her nose in mock irritation before chuckling and shaking her head. "Well, when they found out my mom was pregnant they were undoubtedly ecstatic about it, and that happiness and joy doubled, no pun intended, when they found out about there being two babies instead of one.

"So, they started to go to the mythology to find names. Interesting names were found whether or not my parents realized that those uncommon and unpopular names might have caused trouble for Artemis and I. Dad didn't think that Artemis and Apollo would work so well, given the various things that had gone on with the Apollo shuttle launches. But then they ran into Orion the hunter after doing some more research. They figured two hunters would make a fine enough pair for twins."

Orion chuckled slightly. Jim smiled lightly as well. It was fitting though. The Montgomery twins had fought tooth and nail over many scientific theories. Though not actually fighting or hunting, the two had dug around and hunted, as it were, for reasons and proofs that 'impossible' theories were in fact very possible. Properly named indeed. However....Jim's puzzled expression caused Orion to smirk a little. "Confused as to how they mixed up the names?" she asked saucily.

Jim laughed and nodded. She wasn't even trying and yet Orion was making a very good impression on the young captain. The kind of impression that would later make the man wonder if he had lost his mind, thinking of perhaps doing the whole dating and courtship thing right with Orion....that is if she'd agree to one date.

"Okay, so that whole ordeal came about when Arty and I were born," Orion said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "My parents wanted the first one out to be named Artemis, since they figured I'd be born first...." Orion trailed off with a shrug.

"But you weren't but your brother was instead. Why didn't they just change the documents?" Jim wondered aloud. Orion tilted her head to the side and sighed.

"I've wondered that too. Maybe they just wanted everything over and done with and back home. I don't know those details. All I know is that my parents thought I'd be the first one out since I was apparently closer to...yeah..." she stated vaguely, starting to feel uncomfortable talking about her birth with more or less, a total stranger. Kirk seemed to pick up on this.

"It's alright. I was just curious," he said with a sigh as he rose from the chair. "But alas, I have stayed a little later than I had planned," he said, not sounding sorry or worried at all. Orion figured he had a big 'I'm the captain and can basically do what I want' complex. "So I leave you to a now moderately warm breakfast and the PADD which will begin your catch up process." Jim grinned roguishly. "No doubt you'll be done within the week. But anyway," Jim said as he made his way to the door. He was seriously late for his shift, and though he didn't want to leave Orion, the Enterprise got his top priority. "Good morning, and good day," he said before leaving Orion alone in the room.

Orion's lips pulled up into a faint smile as the Cap'n left. He wasn't such a pain in the ass. It confused her a bit though. How could a man be a pain in the ass and then be the attentive and almost sweet guy that Kirk had been. Orion hopped off the counter and padded to the counter. She picked up the schematics of the Ship and scowled slightly at the note left by Jim. Something along the lines of learning all the nooks and crannies where one could make out without being seen.

Nope. With out a doubt, James T. Kirk was a roguishly handsome and arrogant ass.

* * *

_**Author's note:  
**_

_**I am still in need of input with the pairing(as I totally don't care. I can see Orion with either one). And sorry only one vote per person.  
**_

_**There is only so much more I can write until I can make any romantic advances from either party.**_

_**Current Standings: **_

_**James Tiberius Kirk- 3**_

_**Leonard "Bones" McCoy- 2**_

_**Don't like the numbers? Just click the little review button and type a name.**_

_**Thanks for reading! Have a good day!**_


	13. Preludes to Engineer Montgomery

_**MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE! THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN!**_

_**AND THE OFFICIAL PAIRING OF THIS STORY WILL BE.....-cues drumroll-**_

_**JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK AND ORION MONTGOMERY! THANK YOU ALL FOR VOTING! **_

_**

* * *

**_

Orion shook her head at the Captain's antics. He was trying too hard, and was a little too obvious. But she wouldn't fall for him. No, Orion wanted someone who would treat her right, have exchanges of witty banter, and lover her with his whole heart. Jim, at this point at least, did not fit that bill, especially since she had a sneaky feeling the Cap'n flirted with almost any woman aboard. Orion wanted a man whose sole attention was on her, and no one else. Jim would have some growing up to do if he wanted to have any chance with her.

The young woman sighed before cautiously picking up the PADD. It was a strange device, but it seemed to be more efficient than a computer. "Interesting," she muttered as it whirled to life from her touch. The Montgomery lass walked over to the bed where she sat down and curled her legs up under her.

Orion sighed and begun to dig dig around in her backpack that had been brought to the room whilst she was in the medical bay. She was looking for her reading glasses. Normally Orion would be fine with out them, but since she hadn't a clue how long she would be reading(which tended to hurt her eyes after awhile without the glasses), the young woman figured it would be safer to just wear them from the get go. "Eureka!" she shouted before laughing and slipping the pair onto her face. Shaking her head at her idiocy , Orion also pulled out a notebook and pen to take notes and write down questions she may have. "Let's get cracking," she murmured with a impish smirk on her face as she cracked her fingers and set out to gleam as much knowledge from the PADD as she possibly could.

It didn't take long for Orion to get the right files going.. A small smile graced the young woman's face as she read about Artemis' discoveries and inventions. He really was a brilliant man, and there was no denying that he was even more brilliant than Orion. She had no qualms over admitting it. He was the real brains in the family. She had always worked harder to be as brilliant.

Those were the easiest inventions and theories for her to grasp. And while she felt proud he had used his brilliance well, it pained Orion that it took her loss for Artemis to really open up and excel so much. She would have loved to have been there helping him. It would have been the best years of Orion's life as she and Artemis always had a blast (sometimes quite literally) working on inventions, formulas, and theories. Orion just shook her head and continued to read to distract herself from the painful sadness she felt.

The rest of the day passed with relative peacefulness. Well, as peaceful as it could be with a few visitors and Orion trying her hand at looking for the mess hall. It was a good thing she was handy with schematics or she would have ended up walking right off the ship into a horrid death. Not to say she was directionally challenged, but the Enterprise was no small vessel.

Her visitors didn't start showing up until after she noshed in the mess hall. The first to arrive was the bright face of Pavel who wanted to make sure she was settling in alright and knew her way around the ship among other trite things. Conversation was great between the two, and Orion already started to see the Russian as an adopted younger brother.

Shortly after Pavel left her on a happy note, the Cap'n made a visit again. He was alright until he made a crass comment about doing some hands on learning. Suffice it to say, Orion was not amused (though deep down her body wouldn't have minded some actual hands on learning, though not of the kind Jim was implying) and promptly shoved him out of her room. How the hell was she suppose to get on with her studying and learning if he was bothering her? Didn't he need someone in engineering to be a like a "second in command" or whatever the hell it was she was suppose to do.

Orion had some good study time before Bones came to check on her once again. Her chat with him was interesting and amusing. Orion found the doctor's sardonic sense of humor to be very much in tune with hers, and it was easy to coax a semi-smile from the usually scowling man. He had done her another favor by distracting her once again from the needle. It didn't make much sense to Bones as to why this strong, beautiful and humorous lady was scared of a little piece of sharp metal. Then again he was one to talk, being in the very place he was a bit afraid of...but the unknown does that to a person. With a swift and kind of awkward good day, Bones left and Orion went right back to her notes.

She needed to talk to Scotty, at least she thought that was the man's name. Many questions and comments needed to be mulled over with another person such as herself. Chekov and Spock were great at answering her other questions, but their fortes lay elsewhere. Orion needed to talk to a modern engineering expert for her kinds of questions.

But at that point it was almost supper, so after spending time in the mess with Uhura and Chapel (who seemed a whole lot better than the snobby linguist), Orion just wandered back to her room for some well needed shut eye as her brain was almost mush from all that she learned and all that she still had to learn.

* * *

_**Author's note:  
**_

_**Alright! I hope you Bones lovers aren't too sad. Don't worry I already have a HUGE plan for a story involving our favorite doctor.**_

_**I also must apologize for the slowness I had in posting this , especially since I've had it written for awhile., but I was unsure if I was going to write more for this chapter than I actually did. Not to mention school was busy busy busy, but I think with Christmas break looming on the sunny and cold winter horizon that I will be able to write a bit more and maybe....just maybe start the Bones fanfic. I'd like to know if you all would be interested in that one too...leave a review with comments questions or concerns...and I will get back in a timely and orderly fashion XD.  
**_

_** Thanks for being patient with me as I don't deserve it half the time. Reviews are loved and welcome. Thanks for reading! ^_^ ****Have a good day!**_


	14. PatienceMaybe

**Hey all! **

**I owe you all a TREMENDOUS apology. I have not been able to update in a long time, and as much as I can blame it on the fact I've been uber busy with school and other crap, I also blame it partly on the fact I just don't like where the story has gotten to. Also, I just haven't had much inspiration, but that ties into the fact I don't like where the story is up to this point. That being said, I am going to start going back and re-reading and editing the current chapters in hopes that not only will the story improve, but also that it sparks the story back to life for me. **

**Again I apologize for all this, but I just had to say this as it isn't fair of me to keep you all in the dark about what's going on. **

**Thanks for reading this; I hope you all aren't totally disappointed in me and will continue reading my story.**

**

* * *

**

**As promised though, I do have a teaser of sorts for that Bones story I mentioned a chapter or two ago....**

_To whom it may concern,_

_May I begin by saying I am not at all pleased to meet you, or at least make your acquaintance. I am not at all happy with this arrangement that our...lovely yet very delusional Captain has thought up. If the recipient of this letter is said Captain, I ask for the humblest apologies, though I may not necessarily mean it. However, I am not worried at all about my job, as I will be using a pseudonym as recommended in the rules of this here 'social project' for the crew.  
_

_Which leads me to wonder why on earth we have to do this in the first place? What the hell was Captain Kirk thinking? So what if I don't know any of the know-it-all scientists or the cantankerous linguists. As an engineer (and in case that is against the rules to say what sort of job I have, I do not fear because there are literally more engineers than any other kind of personnel to keep this here ship running in tip-top shape), I really only need to know and be buddy buddy with the doctors who patch my friends and me up if some shit hits the fan. I do feel bad for those guys in all seriousness. It's not like we _try_ to get ourselves killed on a daily basis. Things that are out of our control happens all the time, such as being attacked by freaking Romulans or Klingons.  
_

_All I suppose I have left to say is that I am busy and may not be able to make regular correspondence, as I like to do things the old fashion way. That is to say, I prefer to write letters with pen and paper, but I am currently out of such things so I have to do this the informal way. It is a shame really that people barely know what paper and pen are once they get out of high school. Terrible is it not? I personally love collecting old paperback novels, much to my sister's chagrin. But she could kiss my hard working ass for all I care. Not that you necessarily want to know all the gory family details in one letter. Hell, I wouldn't subject my worst enemy to hearing about my relationship to my family.  
_

_I have left much unsaid, but I feel it's best that way. After all who wants to know everything about a person in just one sitting, eh? Besides, it's against the rules to come right out and say exactly who you are, yet I may have inherited some one's inability to follow the rules to the T (again not at all like my sister who follows the rules perfectly). But enough of that...I hope your day is going better than mine. Already got a few bumps and bruises, but nothing too serious that I would need to face the sick-bay. I know how to take care of those small mishaps. Alas, I have taken up more time with random bilge, but no more.  
_

_As my mama once told me when I was a very young child, "Keep your chin up, love. You won't see the stars otherwise."_

_Sincerely,_

_Victoria Enn Romano _


End file.
